‘Three dead’ as Iran protests swell on anniversary of lethal 2019 crackdown, A rights group said that at least three demonstrators were shot dead by Iranian security forces on Tuesday as protests spurred by Mahsa Amini’s passing grew on the anniversary of a deadly crackdown in 2019. The demonstrations were renewed by the death of 22-year-old Amini in mid-September this year following her imprisonment for allegedly disobeying Iran’s strict dress code for women. The protestors were in response to a request to remember those killed in the 2019 crackdown.
‘Three dead’ as Iran protests swell on anniversary of lethal 2019 crackdown
Verified footage shows protesters blocking a major roundabout in Sanat Square in Tehran while shouting “Freedom, freedom” over the din of blaring car horns. Later, crowds poured into other cities’ streets, including Bandar Abbas and Shiraz, where women could be seen waving their headscarves in the air.
According to the 1500tasvir social media monitor, more people started to emerge onto the streets of the city as night fell. Some of them gathered around bonfires and chanted, “Death to the tyrant.” Other videos posted by the monitor showed clashes with security personnel as protests went on into the night in numerous cities.
“The government forces have directly opened fire in most of the cities where uprisings have taken place, such as Sanandaj, Kamyaran and Kermanshah,” Hengaw, a rights group based in Norway, told AFP.
“Three people have been killed so far, two in Sanandaj and one in Kamyaran” by direct fire from government forces, it said, adding that it was working to confirm reports that more protesters were killed.
The UN Human Rights Office called on Iran to immediately release thousands of people arrested for taking part in peaceful demonstrations.
“Instead of opening space for dialogue on legitimate grievances, the authorities are responding to unprecedented protests with increasing harshness,” spokesman Jeremy Laurence told reporters in Geneva.
– ‘Year of blood’ –
“This year is the year of blood, Seyed Ali will be toppled,” a large crowd chanted outside a Tehran metro station, in a video verified by AFP, referring to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
According to YouTube videos that AFP verified, stores in Tehran’s renowned Grand Bazaar and other regions of the country were closed as the day got underway. Iranian media said that the bazaar’s vendors closed their doors out of concern that they would be set ablaze. A police official later revealed to state television that 11 persons had been detained for “threaten[ing]]” the bazaar’s vendors.
Hengaw reported that in Amini’s native Kurdistan area in western Iran, employees put down their tools and students skipped class. Other online videos showed protesters burning tires in the street and chanting anti-government chants in Sanandaj, the province’s flashpoint city.
“Woman, life, freedom” and “Man, homeland, prosperity,” chanted male and female students at Islamic Azad University in the northwestern city of Tabriz, in a video published by 1500tasvir.
The protests on Tuesday marked the third anniversary of the start of “Bloody Aban” — or Bloody November — when a surprise overnight fuel price hike sparked bloody street violence that lasted for days. Amnesty International said at least 304 people were killed during the protests three years ago, but a tribunal in London this year by various rights groups said expert evidence suggested the toll was likely far more, possibly as high as 1,515.
– UN rights session –
On Saturday, the Oslo-based organization Iran Human Rights said that the crackdown on ongoing protests has resulted in the deaths of at least 326 individuals, including 25 women and 43 children. Fury over the dress codes for women ignited the discontent, which later grew into a widespread movement against the theocracy that has governed Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Despite the deployment of deadly force by the police and a campaign of mass arrests that captured activists, journalists, and lawyers, it has shown no signs of abating. Mohammad Khatami, a former president and prominent reformist, acknowledged that there was dissatisfaction with the current administration but dismissed the notion of a transition in power in the Islamic republic.
“The overthrow (of the system) is neither possible nor desirable but the continuation of the current situation leads to social collapse,” Khatami, president from 1997 to 2005, was quoted as saying by reformist newspapers.
In response to the crackdown, the European Union and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on more than 30 key Iranian officials and organizations. Iran pledged to “act effectively and brutally” after accusing the United States and its allies of inciting the uprising. The US denounced Iran’s cross-border drone and missile strikes on Monday against Kurdish opposition groups operating in Iraq, which Tehran blames for inciting what it refers to as “riots” at home. On November 24, the UN Human Rights Council is scheduled to hold an urgent session on Iran. Supporters are calling for a global inquiry into the deadly crackdown on the protests.