Iran
Iranian protesters gather around a burning car during a demonstration in Tehran on November 16, 2019. Photo: AFP
JAVANRUD, Iran- Javanrud is a predominantly Kurdish border city of Kermanshah Province, Iran with a population of more than 50,000 residents.
The population's main source of income is cross-border trade with the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. However, their work, known to locals as kolbari ,was declared prohibited by the Iranian Council of Ministers on December 17, 2017 which has hit local residents hard.
Kolbars are porters who transport goods across the Kurdistan Region-Iran border either on their back or with horses. Some also smuggle banned goods, including alcohol, into Iran.
It is a risky profession, crossing dangerous mountain passes riddled with mines left over from the Iran-Iraq war. They also risk coming under fire from Iranian security forces.
In the past two years, Javanrud kolbars and their families have tried hard to dissuade the government from prohibiting the trade, to no avail.
Javanrud mayor Arash Lihony promised to discuss the issue with his superiors, but his efforts cost him his post and he was subsequently removed from office by the government.
The people of Javanrud have barely managed to make a living in the past two years, yet the government has tightened the noose around their neck amid the continued economic crisis worsened by US sanctions.
Their miserable living conditions prompted locals to pour into the streets of their marginalized city on November 16 as part of the nationwide demonstrations to protest skyrocketed fuel prices in mid-November.
"Dozens of people mobilized," an eyewitness, who spoke on condition of anonymity fearing crackdown from security forces, told Rudaw. "The security forces dispersed the protesters very quickly."
"In addition to policemen and the army, a significant amount of Itlaat [Iranian Ministry of Intelligence] forces in civilian clothing mingled into the crowds while armed policemen prepared to shoot."
He added as soon as the protests turned violent, he fled the scene
"I saw people running for a cover after we heard gunshots," he explained.
Protests erupted across Iran following a government decision to raise petrol prices by as much as 300 percent.
Iran, home to some of the largest oil reserves in the world, was already struggling under crippling US sanctions designed to end its nuclear ambitions.
Iranian state media has for the first time acknowledged the killing of protesters during last month's civil unrest.
Rights group Amnesty International issued a report on Monday placing the death toll at 208, although it said the real figure is likely much higher.
One of those killed in Javanrud was Mubin Abdullahi, a 21 year old man from Shwankar, a densely forested village outside of Javanrud.
He was killed at a local cafe by a sniper.
Another victim was identified as Aziz Hoshangi, a cleaner from the Javanrud Municipality, who was killed by stray bullets.
Jabar Tajara, 40 was also killed on the first day of the protests. He is survived by three children.
While returning home from work on foot, he was shot and was taken to Kermanshah Talaqani Hospital before succumbing to his wounds.
Hospital officials decided to demand 40 to 70 million tomans from each family wanting to retrieve the dead bodies of protesters.
A source close to his family told Rudaw that the government did not charge them any money for retrieving Tajara's body after they admitted that he was not a protester, but just a pedestrian who happened to be at the scene.
The bodies recovered by the families have been silently buried with their funerals held at home.
"The health conditions of the wounded are very critical," a civil activist told Rudaw. "There must be more than 100 wounded."
He added though there is no concrete figure on how many are imprisoned, unverified data suggests that as many as 400 youths have been arrested.
A civil activist recounted the story of Mohammed, a 21-year-old man working in the city as a painter who was shot by a sniper whilst running away from a bank set ablaze by demonstrators.
"Mohammed was hit by a sniper after he started to run to dodge the fires."
"Mohammed was in coma for many days. He has just regained consciousness, but lost a kidney and sustained wounds to his lungs and liver."
The wounded are still being hunted by security forces and, Itlaat and Iranian Revolutionary Guards have started to look for those who appeared in video footage.
Local sources have said that the Iranian government forces storm households every day at dawn around 5 to 6am.
"Since the protests started, there has not been any night that we did not face the Itlaat forces. They attack people, arrest them and take them away," a taxi driver told Rudaw.
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