During the “riots” in Sahedan, a civilian was killed “when unknown persons opened fire,” reported the state news agency Irna, citing the province’s security council. Security forces were among the 14 injured. Irna blamed “rioters” for the riots, saying they set tires on fire. “Some masked rioters” “threw stones at cars,” it said.
The Hrana tweet contained a video of gunshots and the shouting of “Allahu akbar”. The AFP news agency was initially unable to verify the recordings.
In another video shared by the Oslo-based organization Iran Human Rights (IHR), prolonged automatic gunfire could be heard aimed at people taking cover. Activists reported dozens of people pouring into the city’s streets after Friday prayers.
The Iranian authorities, meanwhile, dismissed the chief of police in Sahedan and a police station chief. The Security Council of the province of Sistan-Baluchistan, whose capital is Sahedan, promised compensation to the “innocent victims” of deadly clashes, Irna reported on Friday. On September 30, more than 150 people stormed a police station in Sahedan after Friday prayers. According to official figures, 35 civilians and six security forces were killed.
The protests were triggered by reports that a police officer allegedly raped a girl. According to the IHR, 93 people were killed in Sahedan during the crackdown on the protests.
The Security Council of Sistan-Baluchistan on Friday published the conclusions of an investigation commissioned by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. “Regrettably, some fellow citizens who were praying and innocent pedestrians who had nothing to do with it were hit in the clashes.”
Located near the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, the province is one of the poorest regions in the country and home to the Baluchi minority. The majority of them adhere to Sunni Islam and not to the Shia Islam that prevails in Iran. Human rights organizations have long complained about discrimination by the Shia leadership in Tehran. Scores of people are killed or sentenced and executed in clashes with security forces there every year.
According to IHR, dozens of demonstrators have died nationwide in the protests of the past few weeks in Iran. The unabated protests across the country were sparked by the death of the young Kurd Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old died in Tehran on September 16 after being arrested by the so-called moral police. She allegedly wore her headscarf improperly. Activists accuse the security forces of mistreating the young woman.
On Friday, too, numerous people took to the streets across the country, as online videos showed. Among other things, there were protests in the western Iranian city of Mahabad, where security forces had killed at least four people in the past two days, according to activists.
