There is no let up in protests in Iran as demonstrations continue in various cities and activists call for more rallies and civil disobedience in the coming days.
In the capital Tehran, people chanted slogans behind windows and on rooftops Tuesday night, and some staged protest rallies in Tehranpars, Saadatabad, Ekbatan and Jannatabad districts.
Despite the unprecedented uprising against the Islamic Republic, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Wednesday once again accused foreign nations of instigating protests across Iran saying that he has no problem with the youths who are on streets “as they are our own kids!”
“The presence of some teenagers and young people in streets is the surface of the issue. These are our own children, and we have no argument with them as they entered the field due to some excitements…, but the important ones are the main directors who entered with a plan,” added Khamenei.
Despite his claim about children, security forces so far have killed at least 40 teenagers and younger children.
Referring to the protest movement, he called it a “hybrid war” and not just “street riots” and once again blamed it on the United States, Israel, “some mean European powers,” claiming that “the nation slapped and defeated them.”
Dehloran is the latest city that joined the uprising. In Dehloran, on the border of Iran and Iraq, protesters lit fires and clashed with security forces Tuesday evening. Neighborhood-oriented protests continued in several cities, including Sanandaj, Bandar Abbas and Marivan.
People in the western flashpoint city of Sanandaj took to streets Wednesday morning chanting slogans against the clerical regime. Videos show merchants and shopkeepers across the city have gone on strike.
Meanwhile, students of Beheshti university of Tehran and Industrial University of Esfahan held gatherings chanting anti-government slogans.
Students of Hormozgan Medical Sciences University, Tehran Azad University, and Rasht Azad University have announced in a statement that they boycotted the courses and asked other students and professors to stand by them.
Dentistry students at Shiraz University staged a sit-in and in Shahr-e Rey Azad University near Tehran students defied the gender segregation at the cafeteria.
Schoolboys and girls in a number of cities, including Tehran, Karaj and Marivan, chanted slogans against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
In Karaj near capital Tehran, people hung placards to call for a march to the city cemetery on Thursday.
According to the latest information by Iran Human Rights, at least 277 people have been killed by security forces in the nationwide protests so far. Of those, 40 were under 18 years of age but have not all been verified through document evidence.
“Protesters have been killed in 22 provinces, with the most reported in Sistan and Baluchistan, Mazandaran, Tehran, Kurdistan and Gilan respectively. The greatest number of deaths were recorded on 21, 22 and 30 September. October 27 was the bloodiest day last week with 12 recorded deaths,” says the organization.
The Norway-based human rights organization also expressed concern regarding the fate of the detained protesters saying, “dozens of them have been charged with the security-related charges of ‘moharebeh’ (enmity against God) and ‘corruption on earth’ which carry the death penalty.
The Islamic Republic’s history and current evidence indicate that they intend to use the death penalty as a tool of political repression to intimidate their opposition.
However, the Judiciary deputy Mohammad Mossadeq claimed on Wednesday he does not know how many people have been arrested in recent protests. “I don’t know, but more than 90 percent of the detained were released after 24 hours,” he said.
(info: iranintl / photo: the new york times)