At least 192 protesters have been killed in Iran’s biggest movement against the Islamic republic in more than three years, a rights group said yesterday, as warnings grew that authorities were committing a “massacre” to quell the demonstrations.
The protests, initially sparked by anger over the rising cost of living, have become a movement against the theocratic system in place in Iran since the 1979 revolution, and have already lasted two weeks.
The mass rallies are one of the biggest challenges to the rule of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, coming in the wake of Israel’s 12-day war against the Islamic republic in June last year, which was backed by the US. Protests have swelled in the past few days despite an Internet blackout that has lasted more than 60 hours, according to monitor Netblocks, with activists warning that the shutdown was limiting the flow of information and the actual toll risks being far higher.
Photo: UGC via AP
“Since the start of the protests, Iran Human Rights has confirmed the killing of at least 192 protesters,” the Norway-based non-governmental organization said, warning that the deaths “may be even more extensive than we currently imagine.”
Videos of large demonstrations in Tehran and other cities over the past three nights have filtered out despite the Internet cut that has rendered impossible normal communication with the outside world via messaging apps or even phone lines.
Video verified by Agence France-Presse (AFP) showed large crowds taking to the streets in new protests on Saturday night in several Iranian cities including Tehran and Mashhad in the east, where images showed vehicles set on fire.
Several circulating videos, which have not been verified by AFP, allegedly showed relatives in a Tehran morgue identifying bodies of protesters killed in the crackdown.
The US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran said it had received “eyewitness accounts and credible reports indicating that hundreds of protesters have been killed across Iran during the current Internet shutdown.”
“A massacre is unfolding in Iran. The world must act now to prevent further loss of life,” it said.
It said hospitals were “overwhelmed,” blood supplies were running low and that many protesters had been shot in the eyes in a deliberate tactic.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said it had confirmed the deaths of 116 people in connection with the protests, including 37 members of the security forces or other officials.
Iranian State TV yesterday broadcast images of funeral processions for security forces killed in the past few days, as authorities condemned “riots” and “vandalism.”
Iranian national police chief Ahmad Reza Radan said authorities made “significant” arrests of protest figures on Saturday night, without giving details on the number or identities of those arrested, state TV reported.
Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani drew a line between protests over economic hardship, which he called “completely understandable,” and “riots,” accusing them of actions “very similar to the methods of terrorist groups,” Tasnim news agency reported.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said “rioters” must not disrupt Iranian society.
“The people [of Iran] should not allow rioters to disrupt society. The people should believe that we [the government] want to establish justice,” he told state broadcaster IRIB.
In Tehran, an AFP journalist described a city in a state of near paralysis. The price of meat has nearly doubled since the start of the protests, and while some shops are open, many others are not.
Those that do open must close at about 4pm or 5pm, when security forces deploy in force.
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the ousted shah, who has played a prominent role in calling for the protests, yesterday called for new actions.
“Do not abandon the streets. My heart is with you. I know that I will soon be by your side,” he said.
US President Donald Trump has spoken out in support of the protests and threatened military action against Iranian authorities “if they start killing people.”
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar yesterday urged the EU to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps as a “terrorist organization” over the suspected violence against protesters.
He also said Israel supports the Iranian people’s “struggle for freedom.”
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