14 October, 2022
After activists called for protests in the predominantly Arab, oil-rich province of Khuzestan at the Iraqi border on Friday, police deployed heavily in the city of Dezful, a witness said.
With Iranians from all walks of life venting anger at their clerical rulers, the protests mark one of the boldest challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution, even if the unrest does not seem close to toppling the system.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, in remarks on Friday, warned of "divisions in the ranks of Muslims" without explicitly mentioning the protests. Earlier this week, he dismissed them as "scattered riots" planned by Iran's enemies.
Some of the deadliest unrest has been in areas home to ethnic minorities with long-standing grievances against the state, including Kurds in the northwest and Baluchis in the southeast.
Human rights groups say more than 200 people have been killed in the crackdown nationwide, including teenage girls whose deaths have become a rallying cry for more demonstrations demanding the downfall of the Islamic Republic.
Amini, an Iranian Kurd, died on 16 September after being arrested in Tehran for "inappropriate attire".
After activists called for protests in the predominantly Arab, oil-rich province of Khuzestan at the Iraqi border on Friday, police deployed heavily in the city of Dezful, a witness said.
There was also a heavy deployment of police and the Basij - a volunteer militia leading the crackdown - in the main squares of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province at the border with Pakistan in the southeast, two witnesses said.
Seeking to underline national unity, a group of protesters in the city, which has a large Baluchi population, were chanting in support of demonstrators in Iranian Kurdistan. "Kurdistan - light of our eyes," they shouted, one of the witnesses said.
Iran has blamed the violence on enemies at home and abroad, including armed separatists and Western powers, accusing them of conspiring against the Islamic Republic and denying security forces have killed protesters. State TV reported at least 26 members of the security forces have been killed.
Zahedan was the scene of one of the deadliest days yet on 30 September when Amnesty International has said security forces killed at least 66 people in a crackdown after prayers.
The authorities said Baluchi militants attacked a police station that day, triggering a shootout. The Revolutionary Guards said five members of its forces and the volunteer Basij militia were killed.
Iran, with a population of 87 million, is home to seven ethnic minorities alongside majority Persians. Rights groups say minorities, including Kurds and Arabs, have long faced discrimination. Iran denies this.
A Revolutionary Guards major and a Basij militiaman were shot dead by "rioters" early on Friday in southern Fars province, state TV reported. A news agency said the two were shot after confronting "two rioters" writing graffiti.
Security forces have also pressed their crackdown this week in Kurdish regions where the Revolutionary Guards have a track record of putting down dissent.
Iran's Kurds are part of an ethnic minority spread between several regional states whose autonomy aspirations have also led to conflicts with authorities in Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
Along the Iranian-Iraqi border in southwest Iran is a population of some three million ethnic Arabs, predominantly Shia. Some groups, emboldened by Iraqi Arabs across the border, have pressed for greater autonomy in recent years.
While many officials have struck an uncompromising tone, a top adviser to Khamenei was cited this week as questioning whether police should be enforcing the wearing of the headscarf - rare criticism of state efforts to impose the hijab.
Amini's death and the crackdown have drawn condemnation from the United States and other Western powers, prompting new sanctions on Iranian officials and adding to tensions at a time when talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal are at a standstill.
New European Union sanctions on some 15 Iranians were expected to be approved on Monday, diplomats said. Asset freezes and travel bans will have little concrete impact on the individuals, but diplomats said it sent a political message and showed growing international concern about the crackdown.
Iran dismisses President Biden as 'tired,' condemns 'interference' in protests
October 16, 2022
Iran dismissed President Biden as a "tired" politician and condemned U.S. "interference" in Iran's brutal crackdown on human rights protesters Sunday.
Biden addressed the month-long unrest in Iran on Friday, saying he was "stunned" at how aggressively the Iranian people have risen up against the country's Islamist regime. Iranian foreign affairs spokesman Nasser Kanani condemned Biden's statement as "interference" on Sunday.
"Iran is too strong for its will to be swayed by the interference ... by a politician tired of years of failure," Kanani wrote on social media. "We will together defend the independence of Iran."
Biden's comments on Iran's protest came during an appearance at a college in Irvine, California.
"I want you to know that we stand with the citizens, the brave women of Iran," he told a group of demonstrators holding signs about the issue. "It stunned me what it awakened in Iran. It awakened something that I don’t think will be quieted for a long, long time."
Biden's Treasury Department announced sanctions against Iran's Morality Police as well as some top-level government officials in late September.
Protests first erupted in the country after the police killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for incorrectly wearing a hijab. The Morality Police released her in a coma with severe injuries, claiming she had fallen down while in custody. She died in the hospital days later on Sept. 16.
Also a source of outrage is the alleged killing of 17-year-old Nika Shakamari. Iranian police followed her away from a protest where she set fire to her hijab. She was then killed, and authorities claim she fell off of a roof. Family members say her injuries were not consistent with that story, however.
Iranian authorities sought to conceal news of Shakamari's death for nine days. Police ultimately removed her body from a morgue and buried in a rural area against her family's wishes.
Watchdog groups say hundreds of people have been killed in the protests, including some regime enforcers. Iranian authorities have cut off internet access for much of the country, however, making it difficult to verify casualty numbers.
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