According to social media reports, a large number of protesters blocked the streets and street clashes between police and protesters occurred. It is likely that elite Revolutionary Guard troops were also deployed. In non-Kurdish cities in Iran, they have so far remained in barracks. A Revolutionary Guards commander has threatened to end the unrest in response to the outbreak of protests in Iran last week.
Protests in Kurdish cities have been more violent in recent months than elsewhere in the country. In addition to the general dissatisfaction with the regime that has gripped the entire country, the Kurds, as a disadvantaged minority, have their own specific grievances. Furthermore, they have their own networks with which people can be mobilized.
Also, the protest movement started in September in Kurdish areas. Mahsa Amini, the young woman who died in a Tehran police station, was Kurdish. The first demonstrations took place in his hometown of Saqqez.
The actions in Kurdish cities follow three days of protests across the country, commemorating those who died three years ago in November in demonstrations against high fuel prices and basic necessities.
Last week’s protest was not as extensive as it was more ferocious than that of the previous weeks. Government buildings and religious institutions were set on fire in various places. On Thursday, protesters set fire to the birthplace of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, in the city of Khomein. “This year is the year of blood,” they shouted.
Bazaar closed
In Tehran and other major cities, bazaar traders also closed their doors for a few days. According to the Iran Human Rights Center, this was done out of solidarity with the mostly young protesters. However, it is also possible that traders feared damage during the three-day protest. The traders’ organization had asked for precautionary measures to be taken.
Bazaar merchants are seen as a traditional pillar of power in Iran. Their participation in a general strike during the popular uprising of 1979 marked the downfall of the Shah’s government.
The large number of children injured or killed in the unrest in recent days has been remarkable. In the southwestern city of Izeh, at least three children, aged between 10 and 14, were shot and killed. Authorities say they were shot at by ‘terrorists’, but the mother of 10-year-old Kian Pirfalak said at her son’s funeral on Friday that police shot down a roadblock near an anti-car rally for no reason. of the police.
A Tehran court on Sunday sentenced another protester to death. This was reported by the Iranian legal site Mizan Online. The man was said to have been carrying a knife with the intention of using it to kill someone and thus “instill fear in society”. Five others had already been sentenced to death last week.
