Crackdown intensifies as Iran protests enter fourth week

Fazel Hawramy

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across Iran on Saturday night calling for the overthrow of the regime as Amnesty International accused Iranian authorities of “utter disregard for the sanctity of human life” and described the international community’s response as “lackluster.”

Protests in several Kurdish towns and cities turned violent overnight with protesters taking over the streets, blocking the path of security forces by burning tires and climbing poles to dismantle security cameras. In Tehran and several other cities, large crowds were seen confronting the security forces, chanting against the regime, and police cabins on fire.

At least two men were shot dead by agents wearing civilian clothes in Sanandaj while 70 more wounded across the Kurdish area, according to Hengaw Human Rights Organization which monitors human rights violations in the these locations. 

IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News reported that a member of its forces was killed during the protest on Saturday night in Sanandaj, confirming reports by Hengaw that a member of the security forces had been killed.

Iran’s state TV was hacked for several seconds during the broadcasting of a program in which Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was speaking, displaying an image of Khamenei placed in a crosshair with blood dripping from his claws. Images of Mahsa Amini and three other young women killed by the security forces were shown as shouts of “woman, life, freedom” were heard in the background.

Khamenei, the ultimate decision maker in the country, dismissed the protests earlier this week and claimed that the US, Israel and their allies were behind the movement.  Amnesty said that the authorities under the command of Khamenei “will stop at nothing to preserve power.”

Security forces used ambulances and even ice-cream vans to move around the city in Tehran to crush the protest. But several parts of the capital saw violent confrontation between protesters and the security forces, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) paramilitary force the Basij.

By Saturday evening, huge plumes of smoke bellowed from Sanandaj and the town of Javanrud in Kermanshah province where the confrontation was fierce.

The top police officer in Kurdistan province, Ali Azadi, claimed that his forces were not equipped with deadly weapons and the dead protesters were killed by “counter revolutionaries” and “terrorists.” Telegram channels affiliated with the IRGC claimed that the killing in Sanandaj was the work of “homegrown Daesh” a reference to the Islamic State.

But the claims by the authorities that the security forces did not carry deadly weapons were refuted by an Amnesty International report stating that live ammunition were used against protesters. On September 30, Baluchi activists stated that the IRGC and the Basij gunned down hundreds of protesters in the city of Zahedan near the Pakistani border.

“The Iranian authorities have repeatedly shown utter disregard for the sanctity of human life and will stop at nothing to preserve power. The callous violence being unleashed by Iran’s security forces is not occurring in a vacuum. It is the result of systematic impunity and a lackluster response by the international community,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General. 

The watchdog confirmed that a massacre was carried out in the city with at least 82 dead, including children, and hundreds more wounded.

Human Rights Watch said on Saturday that they have documented evidence that shows that the security forces have used “excessive or lethal force” against protesters in 13 cities across the country.

“Governments should call on Iran to stop using excessive force and release detained activists,” the monitor said. ““People in Iran are protesting because they do not see the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini and the authorities’ crackdown as an isolated event, but rather the latest example of the government’s systematic repression of its own people.”

Updated at 10am