[ad_1]
Violent protests have intensified in Iran two months after the death of Mahsa Amini.
Videos published by The Guardian, show Iranian police opening fire on protesters in Tehran’s metro station. Other videos show people, primarily women, being beaten by police and dragged through the metro station.
Amini, 22, died on Sept. 16, three days after being taken into custody by Iranian morality police in the capital of Tehran for not wearing her hijab correctly. Police say Amini died because of underlying health issues. But witnesses say Amini was severely beaten by police and died due to her injuries.
Protests escalated this week in coordination with the anniversary of Bloody November, when hundreds of protesters were killed in 2019 after protesting high fuel prices. Demonstrators called for three days of action in commemoration.
The morality police have heavily patrolled public transport stations, but in recent weeks protesters have moved their demonstrations to metro stations and transportation hubs. The Guardian reports they were the site of heavy state violence and surveillance of female citizens during crackdowns over the summer.
On Friday, images on social media circulated of protesters setting fire to the ancestral home of Ayatollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s founder. Photos and videos were posted on social media and verified by AFP and France 24. The house is in the city of Khomein in the western Markazi province and is said to be where Khomeini was born. After Khomeini died in 1989, the house became a museum. The extent of the damages is not yet known.
The Oslo-based non-profit organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) has estimated that Iranian security forces have killed at least 342 people since the start of the protests, including 43 children and 26 women. IHR estimates that 15,000 people have been arrested for participating in the protests, a number the government denies.
“Iran Human Rights has received a high volume of reports of deaths which it continues to investigate with security considerations and internet disruptions,” the organization said in a statement. “The actual number of people killed, therefore, is certainly higher.”
Posts on social media misleading claims that all 15,000 people arrested would be executed gained traction, including a now-deleted tweet by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. So far, five protesters have been sentenced to death, but that number is expected to increase.
[ad_2]
Source link
