Iran: New Violent Protests Despite Warnings From Revolutionary Guards – Security Forces Open Fire On Students

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Students rallied in several Iranian cities, defying Revolutionary Guard chief General Hossein Salami, who warned protesters: “Don’t take to the streets again.”

Defying the warning of the Revolutionary Guards, new demonstrations took place in Iran today, a month and a half after the wave of protests sparked by the death of Masha Amini.

Students rallied Saturday night and today Sunday in several Iranian cities, defying the head of the Revolutionary Guards, General Hossein Salami, who on Saturday warned protesters: “Don’t take to the streets again.”

Iran has been rocked by a protest movement following the death on September 16 of Masha Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, who died three days after she was arrested in Tehran by morality police for not following a strict dress code.

To the original slogan “woman, life, freedom” were added, during the demonstrations, which the authorities are cracking down on, slogans openly against the Islamic Republic founded in 1979.

Today, security forces fired tear gas and opened fire on students in Sanadai, the capital of the Kurdistan province where Amini came from.

A video posted online by human rights group Hengaw shows thick white smoke rising into the sky above a vocational school building, with students chanting “Freedom, freedom”.

In another video posted on Twitter by the Norway-based organization, a girl can be seen being injured in the arm by shrapnel. Shots were fired during a demonstration at Kurdistan University, according to Hengaw. AFP could not immediately verify these images.

Demonstrations also took place this weekend on campuses in Tehran, Kerman (southeast), Kermanshah (northwest), Mazandaran (north) and Mashhad, Iran’s second city, according to videos shared on social media.

According to the Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), protests took place on Saturday at more than 50 universities and higher education institutions across the country.

“Every death is followed by a thousand people!” chanted protesters at the funeral of a protester on Saturday in Arak, southwest of the capital, according to images broadcast by the 1500tasvir online media. This media outlet claims that the rally was broken up with tear gas.

The crackdown on protests across Iran has left at least 160 people dead, including about 20 children, according to an account given by the IHR on Friday.

In addition, 93 people were killed in protests in Zadehan, Sistan-Baluchistan province (south-east), sparked on September 30 after the rape of a young woman attributed to a police officer, according to the IHR.

In Saghez, Masha Amini’s hometown in Iran’s Kurdistan province, plainclothes police “attacked a college and kidnapped students” who were protesting, Hengaw reported.

According to the IHR, thousands of people have been arrested in Iran since the crackdown began, including journalists, students, lawyers and more than 500 civil society activists.

On Sunday, more than 300 Iranian journalists and photojournalists signed a joint statement criticizing the arrest of their colleagues, local media reported.

The country’s pro-reform Sazandegi newspaper announced that “more than 20 journalists are still in custody,” especially in the capital, while the Tehran Journalists’ Union dismissed as “illegal” and “in conflict with press freedom” the “security approach” by the authorities.

Iranian leaders continue to blame Iran’s “enemies”., including the US and Israel, and accuse journalists of being “trained” to overthrow the regime. This afternoon, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, according to state media, said that security is Iran’s red line and the country will not allow its enemies to undermine it. “Security is the red line of the Islamic Republic and we will not allow the enemy to implement in any way their plans to undermine this precious national asset,” Raisi said.

According to local media, security services released a report on Friday, citing Sazandegi newspaper journalist Elahe Mohammad and Shargh newspaper photographer Niloufar Hamedi, who helped publicize Masha Amini’s case and have been detained for weeks since.

Demonstrations of solidarity with the protest movement in Iran are regularly organized in many countries.

In Ottawa, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau marched on Saturday to support “women in Iran.” And in Berlin today, three men were injured when mobsters attacked pro-democracy protesters near the Iranian embassy.

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