Protests in south-east Iran have again turned violent. In the city of Khash, demonstrators are said to have set fire to a police post, Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Friday.
The background was initially completely unclear. According to state media, there were injuries. Initial reports on social media also reported fatalities. The information could not initially be independently verified.
Five weeks ago, security forces brutally suppressed protests in the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province. Dozens of demonstrators were killed in Sahedan on September 30, henceforth known as “Bloody Friday”. An influential Sunni cleric in the province, Maulawi Abdulhamid, recently criticized the course taken by the political leadership in the predominantly Shiite country. Other local clergy are said to have joined his criticism.
The trigger for the system-critical mass protests in Iran was the death of the 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini in mid-September. The vice squad arrested her for allegedly violating Islamic dress codes. The woman died in police custody on September 16. Since her death, tens of thousands have been demonstrating across the country against the government’s repressive course and the Islamic system of rule.
