Intense Protests In Sistan & Baluchestan, Other Parts Of Iran – OpEd

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Iran’s nationwide uprising is now marking its 50th day on Friday following an intense day of intense protests by people in different cities across the country.

Protests in Iran have to this day expanded to at least 213 cities. Over 500 people have been killed and more than 25,000 are arrested by the regime’s forces, according to sources of Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).  The names of 324 killed protesters have been published by the PMOI/MEK.

On Friday, protests resumed in the province of Sistan & Baluchestan despite heavy security measures by the regime. In Saravan, locals held protest rallies at a mosque and chanted anti-regime slogans including “Death to Khamenei!” Security forces attacked and opened fire on them, but the protesters continued their rallies and resisted the repressive forces. Similar protests were also reported in the city of Suran.

In Zahedan, the people held a large protest rally after Friday prayers and called for the overthrow of the mullahs’ regime and the rule of regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Activists say authorities are also using snipers in targeting the protesters.

In Khash, protesters resisted the regime’s repressive forces and attacked the governor’s office. And in Rask, despite heavy security measures, the citizens held their protest rallies. There are dozens of locals wounded after security forces opened fire on the protesters. Activists say the city hospital cannot cope with the high number of wounded patients.

Latest reports indicate at least eight people were killed and more than 60 were injured by the regime’s oppressive security forces.

In Tehran, locals in the capital’s Javadieh district started establishing roadblocks and protesters were chanting “This is the year Seyed Ai (Khamenei) will be overthrown.” Activists say the regime’s security forces were firing tear gas and using shotgun pellet rounds. The protesters, however, were standing their ground in the face of these crackdown measures.

Nightly protests took shape in several cities on Friday, including Bushehr, Bandar Lengeh, and the highways of Kurdistan and Ilam provinces. Protesters lit fires and set roadblocks to prevent the movement of security forces. At the same time, citizens were chanting anti-regime slogans and calling for regime change.

On Friday, people in numerous cities held memorial ceremonies marking the 40th day of various protesters killed by the regime’s oppressive security forces in the early days of the Iranian uprising. Such ceremonies were held in Isfahan for Shirin Alizadeh and Fereydoun Mahmoudi, in Karaj for Kanan Aghaie, in Shahin Shahr for Mohammad Hassan Torkaman, and in Oshnavieh for Abdolsalam Ghader Galvan. These ceremonies are quickly evolving into anti-regime protests and authorities respond by opening fire and launching tear gas to disperse the crowds.

On Thursday, people in several cities memorial ceremonies held for protesters killed by the regime’s security forces in the early days of this uprising evolved into scenes of major confrontations after security forces opened fire on participants. The cities of Karaj, Arak, Qazvin and others witnessed intense clashes where people stood their ground against the regime’s oppressive security forces. Similar rallies were reported in other cities and Tehran, the Iranian capital, saw many of its districts report continued unrest well into the night.

After nightfall people in several districts of the capital Tehran and other cities including Karaj, Tabriz, Mashhad, Qazvin, Fasa, Rasht, Bukan, Marivan, and more were in the streets continuing the nationwide uprising. Many were seen chanting anti-regime slogans specifically targeting the mullahs’ dictator, Ali Khamenei. The regime’s oppressive security forces in various cities and areas of Tehran were seen opening fire on the locals’ peaceful gatherings.

Locals in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, were marking the 40th day of Hadith Najafi’s murder by the regime’s oppressive security forces. They began chanting, “Death to the dictator!” and “This is the year Seyed Ali (Khamenei) is overthrown!” while clashing with the regime’s security forces after being attacked by the oppressive forces. Reports indicate protesters have torched a vehicle of the security forces and made their units flee the scene. These ceremonies are becoming scenes of anti-regime rallies across the country.

n the city of Arak, central Iran, locals gathered to mark the seventh day of the killing of Mehrshad Shahidi by the regime’s security forces. The participants in this rally began chanting:

“So many years of crimes! Death to the mullahs’ regime!”

“Fear us as we’re all together!”

Similar gatherings were held in the cities of Fuladshahr, Qazvin, Rasht, Amol, and Chalus. In Fuladshahr, a large crowd of people gathered in memory of Mahsa Muguie on the 40th day of her murder by the regime’s security forces. Protesters drove back security forces who had attacked them. They also forced the regime’s oppressive security forces who attacked their gathering to flee. Many people were hit when the attacking forces opened fire on the peaceful gathering.

In the city of Amol in northern Iran people gathered to mark the 40th day of the murder of 33-year-old Ghazaleh Chalabi. In the city of Rasht, also in northern Iran, locals held a similar rally marking the 40th day of the murder of Behnam Layeghpour.

Authorities closed a cemetery and prevented people from holding a gathering marking the 40th day of the murder of Amir Hossein Shams by the regime’s oppressive security forces. Locals in Qasr-e Shirin in western Iran also gathered to mark the 40th day of Afshin Asham’s murder by the regime’s oppressive security forces. “Death to Khamenei!” they were chanting.

The parents of Iran’s national hero, Navid Afkari, participated in a ceremony in memory of Javad Heydari, a protester killed by the regime’s security forces.

Iranian opposition NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi hailed the Iranian people for not only continuing their relentless protests, but also delivering a strong response to the regime’s dictator. “The people of Iran slammed Khamenei only 24 hours after his speech, pretending that Iran’s protests are contained! Iranians took to the streets in dozens of cities with chants of ‘Death to Khamenei!’ turning the 40th day memorials to an inferno for the mullahs.” she said. The NCRI President-elect also praised the brave people of Sistan & Baluchestan Province in their courageous protests today against the mullahs’ regime.

The protests in Iran began following the death of Mahsa Amini. Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, a 22-year-old woman from the city of Saqqez in Kurdistan Province, western Iran, who traveled to Tehran with her family, was arrested on Tuesday, September 13, at the entry of Haqqani Highway by the regime’s so-called “Guidance Patrol” and transferred to the “Moral Security” agency.

She was brutally beaten by the morality police and died of her wounds in a Tehran hospital on September 16. The event triggered protests that quickly spread across Iran and rekindled the people’s desire to overthrow the regime.

Freedom-loving Iranians and PMOI/MEK supporters rallied in Münster, Germany, outside the G7 Summit of Foreign Ministers to call on the international community to not negotiate with the murderous regime that is killing the Iranian people in the streets during the ongoing protests. The demonstrators sent a clear message to global leaders:

This regime does not represent the Iranian people in any way. The Iranian nation is calling for its overthrow. The mullahs’ regime has no legitimacy and must be expelled from the United Nations and its institutions, and all its embassies should be shut down across the globe.


Mahmoud Hakamian writes for PMOI/MEK, where this article was published.

Mahmoud Hakamian

Mahmoud Hakamian writes for The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mujahedin-e-Khalgh (MEK)

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