A woman in Tehran, Iran sets fire to her hijab during protests over the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody, September 20, 2022

UPDATES: Iran Protests Defy Regime’s “Today is the Last Day”

Iran’s Hijab Protests Challenge Legitimacy of A Weakened Regime

UPDATE 1002 GMT:

At least 35 people were wounded when security forces opened fire on Sunday in Marivan in Kurdistan northwest Iran, according to the Norway-based Kurdish human rights group Hengaw.

Kurdistan was the starting point for the eight-week nationwide protests. Mahsa Amini, whose death in police custody sparked the rising, was born and lived in Saqqez.

The latest protest in Marivan was fuelled by the death in Tehran of student Nasrin Ghadri, who was a native of the city. Hengaw said she was killed on Saturday when she was beaten over the head by police, and was buried at dawn without a funeral ceremony at the insistence of authorities.

UPDATE, NOV 7:

Iran’s Parliament has declared protesters to be dangerous criminals who should face execution.

Of 290 MPs in the Majlis, 227 supported the request to the judiciary to issue “retribution” sentences.

But the legislators’ threat is already being challenged.

Students continue a sit-in at Noushirvani University in Babol in northern Iran on Tuesday.

Protesters in southern Tehran express solidarity with those in northwest and southeast Iran who have been repressed, detained, and even slain by Iranian security forces.

The chant: “Kurdistan, Zahedan, favourites of Iran”.

A cleric is greeted by a school class chanting, “Death to the Dictator”:

UPDATE 1445 GMT:

Security forces have reportedly carried out another mass killing of protesters in Sistan and Baluchestan Province in southeastern Iran.

Amnesty International said up to 10 people may have been killed in the city of Khash when security personnel opened fire on demonstrators, some of whom threw stones.

The province, on the border with Pakistan, has become a center of the protests as security forces killed more than 100 worshippers and demonstrators since September 30.

Iran’s leading Sunni cleric, Molavi Abdolhamid, continued his challenge to the regime over its crackdown.

Abdolhamid, the Friday Prayers leader in Zahedan, said, “Should live ammunition be the response to slogans and stone throwing? One wonders…why protesting people of this province are mercilessly massacred.”

UPDATE 1420 GMT:

The Human Rights Activist News Agency reports that 314 demonstrators, including 47 juveniles, have been killed by security forces in the 50 days of protest. About 38 security personnel have been slain.

At least 14,170 people have been arrested, including 392 students.

UPDATE, NOV 6:

Videos confirmed protests on Saturday in at least 11 cities across nine of Iran’s 31 provinces.

The locations including the capital Tehran and nearby Karaj; Sanandaj in Iranian Kurdistan; Arak in the northwest; Shahrekord in the west; Neyshabour in the northeast; and Ahwaz in the south.

UPDATE 1114 GMT:

Images of defiance from Iranian women….

In Amol in northern Iran, remembering a protester killed by Iranian security forces, women take off and burn their hijabs.

A woman at the regime-organized event on Friday does not cover her head.

UPDATE 1100 GMT:

Already at a historic low, the Iranian currency is close to free fall.

The Iranian rial has plummeted to 364,600:1 v. the US dollar after the reopening of the currency market on Saturday.

That is a drop of almost 5% on Thursday’s level of 346,200:1, and a fall of about 15% in nine days.

UPDATE 1045 GMT:

Iran’s top Sunni Muslim cleric has called for an immediate referendum, with the presence of international observers, to “change policies based on the wishes of the people.”

Molavi Abdulhamid issued the call in his Friday Prayers sermon in Zahedan.

The Iranian regime did not respond.

Zahedan, in Sistan and Baluchestan Province in southern Iran, has become one of the centers of the national protests. Iranian security forces have tried but failed to contain the demonstration, killing about 100 worshippers and protesters — including at least 66 on September 30.

Abdulhamid has maintained the challenge for rights and reforms, saying senior officials — including the Supreme Leader — are “responsible” for the mass killings.

Demonstrations continued across Sistan and Baluchestan on Friday. Videos indicated security personnel tried to disrupt the gatherings with gunfire.

UPDATE, NOV 5:

Iranian students have spoken to Deepa Parent of The Guardian about detentions and beatings of their classmates as security forces try to crush the nationwide protests entering their eighth week.

“Anousheh” said of an assault by security forces as she left her Tehran campus last weekend:

One of my best friends was arrested outside the campusa nd I still don’t know where he is. The security forces were waiting for students to exit the university and they started beating us with batons.

We all ran for our lives. We have been warned by our faculty to stop the protests immediately to avoid arrests [but] we are not stopping.

In Iran’s second city Mashhad, “Karim” was among 200 students who gathered on October for the 40th day commemoration for Mahsa Amini, whose death in police custody sparked the protests.

Security forces locked the gates of the university and blocked the exits. Students were detained and beaten as they tried to leave.

After three hours, with security forces using teargas and batons, I managed to get out but at least seven of my friends have since been detained this week. Once they’re taken away, no one knows where they are. University officials are powerless.

I don’t know a single friend who hasn’t witnessed a kidnapping, arrest or hasn’t helped save an injured friend. Student unions here in Mashhad believe at least 50 students have been arrested in our city alone.

Another Mashhad student spoke of an attack by security forces on October 29.

One of my closest friends was beaten so badly that I’ve spent the past four days caring for him at the hospital….

I know that more students have been arrested throughout the week. We don’t know where they are or if they’re safe. Next time they lock us in, they’ll kill dozens of us.

UPDATE 1248 GMT:

Demonstrations are taking place across Sistan and Baluchestan Province in southeastern Iran. Security forces, who have killed scores of worshippers and protesters since Sept. 30, appear to have opened fire again.

UPDATE 1242 GMT:

Graphic video shows a woman calling out “Mom!” while trying to revive her mother, shot by regime gunmen in Fuladshahr in central Iran.

UPDATE 1200 GMT:

Forty prominent Iranian human rights lawyers have risked arrest with a statement challenging the crackdowns on protests, including imprisonment of their collegues.

The government is still drowning in illusions and believes it can repress, arrest and kill to silence.

But the flood of people will ultimately remove a government because the divine will side with the people. The voice of the people is the voice of God.

UPDATE, NOV 4:

Protests spread across Iran on Thursday as demonstrators pushed back against repression by the regime’s security forces.

The most serious confrontations were in Karaj, near Tehran, after security personnel tried to prevent the 40th commemoration for Hadis Najafi, a 22-year-old woman killed by regime forces on September 21.

The security forces blocked roads leading to the cemetery where Najafi is buried and fired live ammunition and tear gas. Video confirmed the gunshots in the air and at protesters as people sheltered in cars.

Protesters responded with barriers, including a wall of cinderblocks, and threw stones and possibly Molotov cocktails at security personnel, stations, and vehicles. A Basij militiaman was killed and five Law Enforcement Command officers injured. A cleric was also seriously hurt.

Gunmen also killed a cleric at a Shia Muslim mosque in Zahedan in southern Iran, where security forces have killed about 100 worshippers and protesters since September 30.

State media identified the victim as Sajjad Shahraki. “A special task force has been formed for the purpose of identifying and arresting the perpetrators,” said Ahmad Taheri, the police commander of Sistan-Baluchestan Province.

A Revolutionary Guards soldier, Hamid Pournorouz, was reportedly stabbed to death in Lahijan in northern Iran. He had served in the Iranian intervention against the Syrian intervention as well in the crackdown on the current protests.

UPDATE 1051 GMT:

Addressing Iranian students, the Supreme Leader has fired another volley at the nationwide protests.

Presenting no evidence, Ayatollah Khamenei asserted, “The events over the past few weeks weren’t simple street riots. The enemy started a hybrid war. The US, Israel, some sly, vicious European powers, and certain groups used whatever they had to do this.”

Like other officials this week, Khamenei tried to present some protesters as misguided and not needing punishment:

There were some young people or teenagers taking part. These are our children, we don’t have issues with them. That was out of excitement, emotion and some negligence in understanding issues.

The regime is targeting “the main directors who enter with plots”, he continued.

Trying to wish away the demonstrations, Khamenei declared about “enemies”, “The Iranian nation truly returned their punch and defeated them.”

UPDATE 1042 GMT:

Another 40th day commemoration for a protester slain by Iran’s security forces:

UPDATE 1019 GMT:

Among the latest detainees are journalist Yaghma Fashkhami and economist Davoud Soori, a former professor at Sharif University.

The Volunteer Committee to Follow-Up on the Situation of Detainees says that as of October 30, Iranian security agencies have arrested 130 human rights defenders, 38 women rights defenders, 36 political activists, 19 lawyers, and 38 journalists. The majority are still in detention.

The agencies have also arrested 308 university students and 44 children.

UPDATE 1012 GMT:

The players of Tehran’s Esteglhal football club have dedicated their league title to the “nation’s women”.

The subdued players said victory was bitter amid Iran’s situation. State TV cut away, but the team has been acclaimed by the public.

UPDATE, NOV 3: The Iranian currency is sinking to yet another all-time low, and the decline is accelerating.

The rial is at 346,100:1 v. the US dollar on Thursday morning, a fall of about 2% in 24 hours and a decline of almost 10% in a week.

The currency has steadily declined since March, when expectations of the renewal of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal were dashed. The weakening has been compounded by economic uncertainty as protests enter an eighth week.

Protests on Wednesday night in one of Tehran’s oldest quarters:

UPDATE 1426 GMT:

Staff at Namazi hospital in Shiraz call for the release of detainees and for action for rights and freedom.

UPDATE 1422 GMT:

The Committee to Protect Journalists has documented 51 journalists who have been arrested since nationwide protests began on September 16.

UPDATE 1319 GMT:

Iranian authorities have arrested three more lawyers.

Nazanin Salari, Bahar Sahrayan, and Mohammad Taravatruy were seized in Shiraz on Monday.

UPDATE 0914 GMT:

Protests and a general strike are reported in Kurdistan in northwest Iran today.

UPDATE 0910 GMT:

Video is circulating of the apparent murder of a man by security personnel in the Naziabad district of Tehran.

The clip shows the regime’s enforcers kicking and beating the man. The Interior Ministry says it will investigate: “The police do not approve of violent and unconventional behavior.”

UPDATE 0853 GMT:

Prominent rapper Toumaj Salehi has been paraded on Iranian State TV, recanting his support of protests.

Salehi and his friends were arrested earlier this week in a raid by 50 security personnel. He was blindfolded and apparently subjected to psychological abuse.

UPDATE 0825 GMT:

At least 15 Iranian Kurds and one Iraqi Kurdish citizen have been killed by Iran’s security forces in the past week, reports the Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Kurdistan in northwest Iran on October 26 to commemorate the 40th day since Mahsa Amini, of Saqqez in the region, died in police custody.

The security forces cracked down on the rallies on the 26th and the next four days, firing bullets and tear gas.

Killings were reported in Mahabad, Sanandaj, Baneh, Qasr-e-Shirin, and Piranshahr. Among the victims are three women and three teenagers.

Fourteen of the victims were killed by gunfire. A 16-year-old girl was beaten to death by batons, while a man was suffocated to tear gas.

UPDATE 0718 GMT:

Iran’s currency has plummeted to a new all-time low against the US dollar.

The rial broke the mark on Tuesday, and has lost another 1.5% on Wednesday to stand at 340,000:1 v. the dollar.

After setting a previous low last year, the rial regained about 20% of its value with the prospect of a renewed Iran nuclear deal. However, talks with the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Germany, China, and Russia) stalled in March, and the Iranian economy has been further shaken by almost seven weeks of nationwide protests.

UPDATE, NOV. 2:

Another case of Iran’s authorities harassing the parents of a victim killed by security forces….

Ghazaleh Chalabi, 33, was shot in the head as she filmed a demonstration in Amol in northern Iran on 27 September. A commemoration for the 40th day of her death is scheduled for Thursday.

Chalabi’s mobile phone video was uploaded on social media. Just before slipping into a coma, she said, “Do not be afraid, do not be afraid.” Five days later, she died.

Chalabi’s aunt explained:

She was shot from the front. There was a small hole in her forehead. The bullet came out from behind her head so that the back of her head had a hole the size of a tangerine.

While Chalabi was in a coma, her parents were repeatedly harassed by security forces, said the aunt. The personnel said they would withhold her body and bury her in an unknown location “if [her parents] made a noise”.

The security forces threatened to take retaliatory action against Chalabi’s brother if her parents broke their silence. They rejected Chalabi’s wish for her organs to be donated to others.

UPDATE 1651 GMT:

Marking the 40th day of the death of Siavosh Mahmoodi, a crowd chants at Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery in Tehran, “If you kill one, thousands will follow”.

UPDATE 1639 GMT:

A scene from Kurdistan University in Sanandaj in northwest Iran:

The Tehran West branch of Azad University:

Students occupy the administration building of Amirkabir University in Tehran, calling for the reinstatement of suspended classmates:

UPDATE 1109 GMT:

As medical personnel demonstrate in solidarity with nationwide protests, security forces have killed at least one doctor and detained at least seven in Tehran and Mashhad.

Dr. Parisa Bahmani, a general surgeon in Zanjan, was killed when state security forces tried to suppress a protest in front of the headquarters of the Tehran Medical Council on October 26. Dr. Moayed Alavian, the president of the TMC was injured when he was punched by a security officer.

Among those detained are Dr. Mohammad Razi, who had just resigned as Vice President of the TMC; general surgeon Dr. Hashem Moazenzadeh ; Dr. Alireza Sedaghat, the head of the Mashhad Medical Council, and his wife Dr. Bita Mirzaei, the Council’s technical deputy; Dr. Reyhaneh Mokhtarian; and Dr. Ramin Neshasteh.

Dr. Dariush Farhoud, 84, known as the father of genetics in Iran, was abducted on October Sunday. He was reportedly released after 26 hours.

The Tehran Medical Council has stated, “We condemn the military, police, security, and unidentified forces for entering medical universities and hospitals and demand that they stop.” It called “for the protection of the detainees and their families”.

UPDATE 1106 GMT:

Students at Kurdistan University in Sanandaj in northwest Iran thank two guards who prevented pro-regime gunmen from firing on a demonstration.

UPDATE 0955 GMT:

The Iranian currency has sunk to an all-time low against the US dollar.

The rial stands at 336,600:1 v. the dollar on Tuesday, breaking the mark of 334,200:1 set on October 13.

UPDATE 0906 GMT:

An example of the summary “justice” being handed out to protesters….

The mother of Mohammad Ghobadlo, charged with “corruption on earth”, said in a video:

My son is only 22 years old and he is also ill. They deprived him of having a lawyer and do not allow lawyers to enter the court.

They interrogated him without having access to a lawyer, and sentenced him to death after only one hearing.

Is this Islamic justice? In which court of law do they sentence people to death after just one hearing? They are going to execute him soon.

I ask people to help.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Iran’s regime has begun mass indictments of protesters for forthcoming show trials.

Nationwide protests over compulsory hijab and the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody are now in their seventh weeks. Despite the killing of almost 300 people by security forces, mass detentions, and restrictions on the Internet, they show no sign of ebbing.

On Monday, Tehran Provincial Chief Justice Ali al Ghasi Mehr announced the indictment of about 1,000 protesters. Shiraz Provincial Chief Justice Asadollah Jafari said another 70 — six of whom the regime has already found guilty — have been charged.

Mehr and Jafari both said the judiciary will open the trials to the public.

The indictments were reinforced with more inflammatory statements from regime officials. Judiciary head Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei said individuals who participate in multiple protests are “in the enemy’s ranks” and subject to harsher sentences.

The threat was in sharp contrast to an attempt at conciliation — at least with some of the demonstrators — by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who said on Sunday:

We consider the protests to be not only correct and the cause of progress, but we also believe that these social movements will change policies and decisions, provided that they are separated from violent people, criminals and separatists.

With universities at the forefront of the protests, Qalibaf met students on Monday. Iranian State media said the Supreme Leader will address selected students on Wednesday.

Among the areas with protests on Monday were Teheran, Karaj, Arak, Tabriz, Rasht, Bandar Abbas, Mahabad, Bukan, Marivan, Sardasht, Piranshahr, Sanandaj, and Abdanan.

In a sign of the strain on the regime, MP Mehdi Bagheri said on Monday that “morality police” — who detained and reportedly beat Amini on September 13, leading to her death and the protests — are not on patrol. Bagheri said the Law Enforcement Command cannot both act against protests and maintain the morality units.

The Latest Demonstrations at Iran’s University

Students at Shahrood University in Semnan in northern Iran on Monday:

Sirjan University in southern Iran:

Shahid Madani University in Tabriz:

Amir Kabir University in Tehran: