According to a tally by reporters on Thursday, clashes between Iranian security forces and protesters enraged over the murder of a 22-year-old woman in police custody had claimed the lives of at least nine people since the unrest started over the weekend.
The extent of Iran’s current unrest, the worst in several years, is still unknown as demonstrators in at least a dozen cities continue to clash with security and paramilitary forces as they express their rage over social repression and the country’s escalating woes.
The main telecom provider in Iran once more fully shut down mobile internet access on Thursday to stop demonstrations from spreading, according to Netblocks, an organization that tracks internet usage, calling the restrictions the most stringent since 2019.
On Thursday, a state television anchor in Iran made the unsubstantiated claim that there may have been as many as 17 fatalities as a result of the widespread demonstrations. The host stated that official data would be provided later and added, “Unfortunately, 17 civilians and police officers present at the scene of these events lost their lives.”
The Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary group, urged the judiciary on Thursday to pursue legal action against “anyone who spreads fake news and rumors” on social media about the unrest in a nation where radio and television stations are already subject to state control and journalists are frequently threatened with arrest. On Thursday, widespread failures of the demonstrators’ preferred messaging apps, WhatsApp and Instagram, persisted.
The Iranian protests had their start as an outpouring of emotion following the passing of Mahsa Amini, a young lady who had been detained by the country’s morality police for allegedly breaking its rigidly enforced dress code. The United States, the European Union, and the United Nations have all harshly condemned her death.
Her family has disputed the police’s claim that she suffered a heart attack and died as a result. Without providing any proof, independent experts connected to the U.N. stated on Thursday that reports suggested she had been badly abused by the morality police.
Iranians have been clamoring for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic itself as the protests have evolved over the past five days into a direct challenge to the regime, with women burning and removing the head coverings that are required by law.
Death to the dictator has frequently been chanted during the demonstrations.
University campuses in Tehran and western cities like Kermanshah have experienced protests. Despite being widespread, the unrest seems to be different from prior nationwide protests motivated by financial problems.
In Iran’s towns, the working class was mobilized by the protest movement that broke out in 2019 in response to the government’s increase in the price of gasoline. Human rights organizations report that hundreds were slain when security forces cracked down, the bloodiest violence since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
This week, protests were recorded by Iran’s state-run media in at least 13 places, including the capital, Tehran. Videos posted online depict security personnel using water cannons and tear gas to scatter large crowds of demonstrators. Amnesty International, a London-based organization, claimed that police allegedly used birdshot and batons to assault demonstrators.
Social media videos from Tabriz, a city in northern Iran, show a young guy bleeding out in the street after allegedly being shot by police personnel as demonstrators yelled for assistance.
According to a report based on assertions from Iran’s state-run and semiofficial media, at least nine people have perished in the clashes. The Guard attributed the protests on Thursday to “Iran’s adversaries” in a statement.
Four demonstrators were reportedly killed by live fire in Amini’s home country of Kurdistan in the northwest. The prosecutor in Kermanshah said that two demonstrators were killed there while adamantly denying that Iranian security personnel fired the shots.
Some protesters appear to have targeted law enforcement. Semiofficial media stated that three Basij members were killed in skirmishes in Shiraz, Tabriz, and Mashhad, raising the total of fatalities on both sides to at least nine. The Basij is a volunteer group under the Guard.
The U.N.’s independent experts said that dozens more people were injured and arrested in addition to the eight confirmed fatalities, which included a mother and a 16-year-old child.
Conflicts have left a path of devastation. According to deputy governor Rouhollah Solgi, enraged mobs vandalized or set ablaze over 40 government buildings in the northern province of Mazandaran and hurt 76 security personnel.
Recent protests in Iran have mostly been motivated by a protracted economic crisis made worse by Western sanctions related to its nuclear program. Along with the rise in the cost of necessities, Iranians are also blaming the administration for being corrupt and inefficient.
The 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, in which Iran limited its nuclear activity in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, has been trying to be revived by the Biden administration and European allies, but the negotiations have been stuck for months.
In his first interview conducted in the United States, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi ascended the stage in New York on Wednesday to address the U.N. General Assembly. CNN’s main international anchor Christiane Amanpour said she had planned to question Raisi about the protests roiling Iran.
However, Amanpour noted on Twitter that Raisi failed to arrive when the interview was scheduled to begin. She was informed by an adviser that the president would not participate unless she donned a hijab due to the “situation in Iran.” Her account was not immediately confirmed by the Iranian administration.
The British-Iranian anchor said, “I couldn’t agree to this unprecedented and unexpected condition,” next to a picture of Raisi’s vacant chair.
It would have been vital to communicate with President Raisi at this crucial juncture given the ongoing protests in Iran and the deaths that have occurred.
