Several people have reportedly been killed in nationwide protests in Iran. Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday that a Revolutionary Guards officer had been killed in the north-west.
According to activists, there have been deaths on the part of protesters and security forces in the province of Kurdistan. The information could not initially be verified independently.
Thousands of people took to the streets on Tuesday. Activists had called for protests and strikes lasting several days in the past few days. The demonstrations are intended to commemorate the violent crackdown on the 2019 protests, which became known as “Bloody November” with several hundred deaths. In view of the restrictions on the Internet, activists in the country are increasingly relying on slips of paper.
The 2019 protests were triggered by high petrol prices. However, they quickly turned against the course of the government and the political leadership in Tehran. Broad sections of society have been demonstrating again against the Islamic Republic for around two months. The trigger was the death of the young Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini in police custody. The vice squad arrested her for allegedly violating Islamic dress codes in mid-September.
Many traders are striking in solidarity
Meanwhile, the police and security forces increased their presence in central squares and bazaars. In the capital Tehran, the state power used drones, and shots were heard in some places, eyewitnesses reported on Tuesday. Many shops in the country had been closed, and some retailers also went on strike in solidarity with the protests. Videos on social media showed protests and violent clashes in several parts of the country.
Crowds of people gathered in Tehran’s metro stations, shouting protest slogans against the political leadership. A video shared thousands of times on social media showed panicked scenes at a subway station. In the approximately 30-second clip, people fall over each other while gunshots can be heard in the background. The place and time of the recording could not be independently verified. However, meetings in the metro with critical slogans against the Islamic Republic have been frequent in the past.
Another death sentence against a protester
Meanwhile, another protester has been sentenced to death in connection with the current protests. This was reported by the Isna news agency on Tuesday, citing the judiciary. According to the report, the verdict was justified by the fact that the accused had spread terror by owning a gun and setting fire to a motorcycle. The death sentence could be appealed, it said.
A demonstrator had already been sentenced to death at the weekend, and other people received long prison sentences. According to human rights activists, around 15,000 demonstrators have been arrested since the protests began two months ago. According to the Iranian judiciary, more than 1,000 people have already been charged.
