Thursday , 28 March 2024

“This Year Is The Year Khamenei Will Be Toppled”: Iran Protesters Defy Crackdown

Iranwire – The third day of a national strike in Iran was marked by mass protests in most cities in the country in which demonstrators called for the downfall of the clerical regime despite a bloody state crackdown that has left hundreds of people killed.

In Tehran, security officers fired bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds who had gathered near Azadi Square in the evening of December 7, the 81st day of a protest movement that has convulsed Iran since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in the custody of morality police.

On Azadi Square, protesters chanted “Don’t call me a seditionist, you are the oppressor” and “This year is the year of blood, this year is the year Khamenei will be toppled”, in reference to Supreme Leaders Ali Khamenei.

🎥شامگاه ۱۶آذر،معترضان در مناطق مختلف #تهران از جمله آزادی، انقلاب و یوسف‌آباد به خیابان‌ها آمده‌اند.

#مهسا_امینی #اعتراضات_سراسری #اعتصابات_سراسری #شهروندخبرنگار pic.twitter.com/eFcW7o5Mv0— ایران وایر (@iranwire) December 7, 2022

The lights on the Azadi Square monument and in the streets around the square reportedly went off during the protests.

Rallies were also held elsewhere in the capital, including on Enghelab Square and in the neighborhoods of Chitgar and Ekbatan. According to the images published on social networks, security agents in Ekbatan shot a citizen in the head with a paintball gun from a very short distance.

Protesters also gathered in the central city of Ardakan, in Yazd Province, shouting slogans such as “Death to Khamenei” and “We don’t want a baby-killer government, we don’t want it.”

🎥ویدیوی منتشر شده از #تهران، لحظه شلیک به سمت ساختمان توسط نیروی لباس شخصی را نشان می‌دهد. امروز ۱۶آذر

#مهسا_امینی #اعتراضات_سراسری #اعتصابات_سراسری #شهروندخبرنگار pic.twitter.com/72Mk4zGmDT— ایران وایر (@iranwire) December 7, 2022

In Isfahan, the security forces attacked a crowd of people who were chanting slogans against the country’s clerical rulers.

Protestors in Saqqez, Amini’s hometown in western Kurdistan Province, blocked roads with fires, amid a heavy presence of security forces around the city.

🎥معترضان سقزی در چند محلە ازجمله بهارستان، صالح‌آباد، حاجی‌آباد و … با روشن کردن آتش اقدام به راه‌بندان کرده‌اند. تعداد زیادی نیروی سپاه پاسداران از پادگان حنظله همراه سایر نیروهای یگان ویژه در حال مانور دادن در سطح شهر هستند ۱۶آذر

#مهسا_امینی #اعتراضات_سراسری #شهروندخبرنگار pic.twitter.com/1gmrpfj5LM— ایران وایر (@iranwire) December 7, 2022

Also On November 7, which was Student’s Day in Iran, most of the country’s universities were hit by student strikes and protests.

The Iranian security forces have responded to the protest movement by unleashing a brutal crackdown that has killed more than 440 people, including dozens of children, according to activists. Thousands of people have also been detained.

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