New clashes in Iran as opposition urges more protests

PARIS – Security forces used tear gas to disperse protesters in Iran as people angered by the economic situation in the Islamic republic kept up their challenge to the authorities, as the exiled opposition on Jan 9 urged them to step up their actions.

The 12 days of protests have shaken the clerical authorities under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei already battling an economic crisis after years of sanctions and recovering after the June war against Israel.

The movement, which originated with a shutdown of the Tehran bazaar on Dec 28 after the rial plunged to record lows, has spread nationwide and is now being marked by larger-scale demonstrations.

The authorities have blamed unrest on “rioters” and the judiciary chief has vowed there would be “no leniency” in bringing them to justice. On Jan 7, an Iranian police officer was stabbed to death near Tehran “during efforts to control unrest”, the Iranian Fars news agency said.

Mr Reza Pahlavi, the son of the Shah ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution and a key exiled opposition figure, said the turnout during the protests on Jan 7 had been “unprecedented” and called for major new protests in the evening of Jan 8.

He said in a message on social media he had received reports the “regime is deeply frightened and is attempting, once again, to cut off the internet” to thwart the protests.

The HRANA monitor published a video of protesters in Kuhchenar in the southern Fars province cheering overnight as they pulled down a statue of the former foreign operations commander of the Revolutionary Guards Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US strike in January 2020 and is hailed as a national hero by the Islamic republic.

HRANA said that according to its count, protests had taken place in 348 locations over the last 11 days in all of Iran’s 31 provinces.

It also published a video of people massing late at night in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj and lighting fires in the streets, and also images of security forces using tear gas to disperse a protest in the Caspian Sea town of Tonekabon.

The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group said security forces on Jan 7 “opened fire on protesters, used tear gas and violently assaulted civilians” during a protest in the key south-eastern hub of Kerman.

The protests are being characterised by larger-scale demonstrations, with hundreds marching through a main avenue in the north-eastern city of Bojnord on Jan 7 in a video verified by AFP.

Demonstrators are repeating slogans against the clerical leadership including “this is the final battle, Mr Pahlavi will return” and “Seyyed Ali will be toppled”, in reference to Mr Khamenei.

IHR said on Jan 6 that at least 27 protesters, including five teenagers under the age of 18, have been confirmed to have been killed in a crackdown on the protests, warning the death toll will climb as more killings are verified. AFP