Paris: Rights groups sounded the alarm on Tuesday over the extent of Iranian crackdown on the Kurdish-populated city, which has become the center of protests, as oil refinery workers launched attacks in a new strategy.
Iran’s clerical officials are shaken by more than three weeks of protests that erupted after the death of mahsa aminia 22 year old Iranian Kurdish Mool, who was arrested by the infamous ethics police.
Despite the use of brute force by the authorities, activists say dozens have been killed, and hundreds of arrests have taken place, the protest movement has yet to show any sign of ending.
Protests are particularly intense in the city of Sanandaj in the western province of Kurdistan, Amini’s home region, where rights groups fear heavy casualties and officials are accused of resorting to neighborhood shelling.
Norway-based Hangau rights groups said an Iranian warplane had landed at the city’s airport overnight and buses carrying special forces were headed to the city from elsewhere in Iran.
It warned that locals were having trouble sending video evidence of incidents because of internet restrictions, but said a seven-year-old child died on Sunday night. AFP could not immediately confirm the claims.
Amnesty International said it was “concerned by the crackdown on the protests in Sanandaj, amid reports of security forces using firearms and indiscriminately firing into people’s homes.”
“Iranian authorities continue to disrupt the Internet and mobile networks to conceal their crimes,” it said in a statement.
Iran’s New York-based Center for Human Rights said a similar situation was threatened in Sistan-Balochistan province in the southeast, where activists say more than 90 people have been killed since September 30.
“The ruthless killings of civilians by security forces in the province of Kurdistan, on the heels of the genocide in Sistan-Balochistan province, have the potential for serious state violence to come,” said its director hadi ghaimi,
Analysts have said the protests are proving particularly challenging for the authorities, led by 83-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, because of their duration and multifaceted nature, from street demonstrations to acts of personal disobedience.
In a new development on Monday, protests spread to Iran’s oil refineries, showing striking workers burning tires and blocking roads outside the Asalouyeh petrochemical plant in the southwest.
They are called “Death of the Tyrant” and “Don’t be afraid, we are all together!” Including slogans can also be heard.
Similar actions were taken at other facilities in the west, including Abadan, where Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said a strike was already underway on Tuesday.
There have been regular protests on university campuses and even in school classrooms, with students at the Amir Kabir Technological University in Tehran raising anti-government slogans on Monday.
In a video shared by the 1500tasvir social media channel, which tracks protests and police violations, students at Tehran Arts University were shown spelling “khun” – the Persian word for blood – in a human chain.
According to IHR, at least 95 people lost their lives in the crackdown on protests that followed Amini’s death on September 16.
Activists say two teenage girls, Nika Shkrami and Sarina Ismailzadeh, whose families say they were killed by security forces after being taken into custody. Officials say he died in the fall.
Another 90 people were killed by security forces in Iran’s far southeastern city of Zahedan since 30 September in protest against the alleged rape of a teenage girl by a police chief in Sistan-Baluchistan province, the IHR said, citing the UK-based. Baloch activist campaign.
“We are deeply concerned by the continuing reports of deaths, injuries and detentions of children and adolescents in Iran amid ongoing public unrest,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has condemned the action internationally, blaming Iran “the world is watching” and using violence in a vain attempt to silence protesters.
Britain said on Monday it had imposed sanctions on Iran’s ethics police, the unit that arrested Amini, and imposed strict dress rules for women, including mandatory headscarves.
Iran said it had summoned the British ambassador to protest the “baseless” sanctions.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna It said on Tuesday that five French nationals are currently being held in Iran, meaning one in nine foreigners Iran has said is holding onto links to the protests.
Iran’s clerical officials are shaken by more than three weeks of protests that erupted after the death of mahsa aminia 22 year old Iranian Kurdish Mool, who was arrested by the infamous ethics police.
Despite the use of brute force by the authorities, activists say dozens have been killed, and hundreds of arrests have taken place, the protest movement has yet to show any sign of ending.
Protests are particularly intense in the city of Sanandaj in the western province of Kurdistan, Amini’s home region, where rights groups fear heavy casualties and officials are accused of resorting to neighborhood shelling.
Norway-based Hangau rights groups said an Iranian warplane had landed at the city’s airport overnight and buses carrying special forces were headed to the city from elsewhere in Iran.
It warned that locals were having trouble sending video evidence of incidents because of internet restrictions, but said a seven-year-old child died on Sunday night. AFP could not immediately confirm the claims.
Amnesty International said it was “concerned by the crackdown on the protests in Sanandaj, amid reports of security forces using firearms and indiscriminately firing into people’s homes.”
“Iranian authorities continue to disrupt the Internet and mobile networks to conceal their crimes,” it said in a statement.
Iran’s New York-based Center for Human Rights said a similar situation was threatened in Sistan-Balochistan province in the southeast, where activists say more than 90 people have been killed since September 30.
“The ruthless killings of civilians by security forces in the province of Kurdistan, on the heels of the genocide in Sistan-Balochistan province, have the potential for serious state violence to come,” said its director hadi ghaimi,
Analysts have said the protests are proving particularly challenging for the authorities, led by 83-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, because of their duration and multifaceted nature, from street demonstrations to acts of personal disobedience.
In a new development on Monday, protests spread to Iran’s oil refineries, showing striking workers burning tires and blocking roads outside the Asalouyeh petrochemical plant in the southwest.
They are called “Death of the Tyrant” and “Don’t be afraid, we are all together!” Including slogans can also be heard.
Similar actions were taken at other facilities in the west, including Abadan, where Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said a strike was already underway on Tuesday.
There have been regular protests on university campuses and even in school classrooms, with students at the Amir Kabir Technological University in Tehran raising anti-government slogans on Monday.
In a video shared by the 1500tasvir social media channel, which tracks protests and police violations, students at Tehran Arts University were shown spelling “khun” – the Persian word for blood – in a human chain.
According to IHR, at least 95 people lost their lives in the crackdown on protests that followed Amini’s death on September 16.
Activists say two teenage girls, Nika Shkrami and Sarina Ismailzadeh, whose families say they were killed by security forces after being taken into custody. Officials say he died in the fall.
Another 90 people were killed by security forces in Iran’s far southeastern city of Zahedan since 30 September in protest against the alleged rape of a teenage girl by a police chief in Sistan-Baluchistan province, the IHR said, citing the UK-based. Baloch activist campaign.
“We are deeply concerned by the continuing reports of deaths, injuries and detentions of children and adolescents in Iran amid ongoing public unrest,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has condemned the action internationally, blaming Iran “the world is watching” and using violence in a vain attempt to silence protesters.
Britain said on Monday it had imposed sanctions on Iran’s ethics police, the unit that arrested Amini, and imposed strict dress rules for women, including mandatory headscarves.
Iran said it had summoned the British ambassador to protest the “baseless” sanctions.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna It said on Tuesday that five French nationals are currently being held in Iran, meaning one in nine foreigners Iran has said is holding onto links to the protests.