Protests continue across the country of Iran in the wake of the death of a woman in police custody after she was arrested for religious dress code violations. At least 185 people have reportedly been killed in the protests, including children.
The protests began in September after the funeral of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was detained in Tehran by the country’s notorious morality police. The activists are calling for the expulsion of clerical leaders, namely the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On Saturday, hackers were able to interrupt a state news broadcast in which it appeared Ali Khamenei was about to speak.
The group, called “Adalat Ali”, or “Ali’s Justice,” put up an image of Khamenei in crosshairs and surrounded by flames. A caption read “Join us and stand up!” and “The blood of our youth is dripping from your claws.”
A song with the lyrics “Woman. Life. Freedom,” played in the background, and photos of Amini and three other women killed in recent protests were included in the graphic. The interupption lasted 15 seconds until state media was able to cut it, the Daily Mail reported.
(Video: Daily Mail)
Elsewhere, activists have spray-painted “Death to Khamenei” and “The Police are the Murderers of the People” on billboards all around Tehran.
“At least 185 people, including at least 19 children, have been killed in the nationwide protests across Iran. The highest number of killings occurred in Sistan and Baluchistan province with half the recorded number,” the Norway-based Iran Human Rights said in a statement on Saturday.
Authorities in Iran have denied the use of live ammunition and say the protests are a plot by Iran’s enemies – including the U.S. – and they claim more than 20 members of their security forces have been killed by armed dissidents.
Protests have erupted in at least 40 cities.
(Video: Daily Mail)
“Police forces used tear gas to disperse the crowds in dozens of locations in Tehran,” state news agency IRNA reported. They added that protestors “chanted slogans and set fire to and damaged public property, including a police booth.”
According to the France-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network and the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, one man was shot dead on a major highway after honking at security forces. Honking in traffic is reportedly a common method of expressing civil unrest in the country.
(Video: Daily Mail)
Protests have also erupted at Azad University in northern Tehran, in various neighborhoods and at the city’s bazaar. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi held a meeting with students from the all-female Al-Zahra University in Tehran in which he argued that foreign enemies were responsible for inciting the uprisings.
“The enemy thought that it can pursue its desires in universities while unaware that our students and teachers are aware and they will not allow the enemies’ vain plans to be realized,” he reportedly said.
(Video: Daily Mail)
As for the genesis of the protests, the state coroner’s report said on Saturday that Amini died of pre-existing conditions while she was in police custody. Her father, however, wholly rejects that claim. He told London-based Iran International, “I saw with my own eyes that blood had come from Mahsa’s ears and the back of her neck.”
Although the state imposes as many blockages as it can on social media, videos continue to emerge showing the continued protests, which are said to be evidence of the most severe backlash against the country’s clerical leaders in many years.
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Frank (Chip) Webster is a musician and composer, former teacher of percussion and U.S. Army Infantry veteran. He holds a degree in English from Arizona State University.
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