Friday, October 14, marked the 29th day of relentless protests in Iran, witnessed a growing number of cities where people are taking to the streets in anti-regime demonstrations and bravely confronting the mullahs’ security forces.
Protests have spread to 190 cities across all 31 provinces of Iran. According to information obtained by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the regime has so far killed more than 400 people and arrested 20,000 others.
Protests resumed in Zahedan on Friday. These protests came two weeks after the “Bloody Friday of Zahedan” on September 30, where security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters and killed more than 100 people, including more than a dozen children. Protesters marched in the streets of Zahedan, chanting slogans against the regime and the Bassij, the paramilitary force that is tasked with suppressing protests.
In Ahvaz, Khuzestan province, a large contingent of security forces were dispatched to prevent protests from taking shape. In Lali, Khuzestan province, the locals held protest rallies and chanted “Death to the dictator!”
Protests were also held in Arak, Markazi province, the people held a large demonstration and chanted slogans against the regime, including, “All these years of crimes! Death to the mullahs’ regime!” In Marivan, Kurdistan province, the people resumed their nightly protests and lit fires in the streets to prevent the movement of security forces.
October 14 – Lali, Khuzestan Province, southwest #Iran
Protesters chanting: "Death to the dictator!"#IranRevolution2022#مهسا_امینی #آزادی_آزادی_آزادیpic.twitter.com/WJVckts4IX— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) October 14, 2022
Thursday also saw another day of intense protests across Iran.
As officials constantly dispatch their security forces to somehow contain this evolving uprising, protesters are showing enormous bravery in standing their ground and forcing these security units to flee. Many cities across Iran were scenes of people beginning their rallies in the afternoon and evening hours of Thursday, with protesters escalating their measures into the night.
Reports from numerous cities indicate protesters took control of their streets by establishing roadblocks and preventing authorities from enforcing their grip on the status quo. The checkered nature of these protests is making it extremely difficult for regime officials to effectively deploy their forces to prevent further protests, let alone bring an end to these nationwide rallies. This is playing a significant role in the nation’s ongoing anti-regime protests while delivering heavy blows to the already decreasing morale and efficiency of the regime’s forces.
Thursday’s protests began with locals continuing their general strike in mostly Kurdish cities of Kurdistan and West Azerbaijan provinces where merchants closed shop. Following nightfall, more people in different cities poured into the streets and were seen chanting slogans against the regime and specifically Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The cities of Ahvaz in Khuzestan Province; Mirjaveh in Sistan & Baluchestan Province; Sanandaj, Marivan, Saqqez, and Bukan in Kurdistan Province, Mahabad and Baneh in West Azerbaijan Province; Abhar in Zanjan Province, Tehran, Qom, Kermanshah, Arak, and Ilam were scenes of ongoing protests.
Security forces in many cities began opening fire and directly targeting protesters, including even bystanders. Amnesty International issued a new report on Thursday highlighting the regime’s deadly crackdown. “The Iranian authorities’ unrelenting brutal crackdown on what many in Iran consider an ongoing popular uprising against the Islamic Republic system has involved an all-out attack on child protesters who have courageously taken to the streets in search of a future without political oppression and inequality. Since the eruption of the uprising on 16 September 2022, Iran’s security forces have killed with absolute impunity at least 23 children and injured many more in a bid to crush the spirit of resistance among the country’s youth and retain their iron grip on power at any cost,” the report reads.
As Iran’s nationwide protests head into their second month, Iranian opposition NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi emphasized the growing scale of this ongoing uprising. In the streets, universities, and markets of dozens of cities, Khamenei’s troops face staunch resistance from brave women and youths, especially in Sanandaj, Saqqez, Kermanshah, Tehran, Isfahan, and Mashhad. They must prepare for the outburst of Iran protests in more cities,” she tweeted.
In the streets, universities &markets of dozens of cities, Khamenei’s troops face staunch resistance of brave women and youths, esp. in Sanandaj, Saqqez, Kermanshah, Tehran, Isfahan & Mashhad. They must prepare for the outburst of #IranProtests in more cities.#IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/OmVAgw0tsC
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) October 13, 2022
These protests 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.
Tehran, #Iran
A brave young woman defends herself and fights back in the face of two attacking plainclothes agents.#IranRevolution2022#مهسا_امینی #آزادی_آزادی_آزادی pic.twitter.com/x0LmRh9fm2— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) October 13, 2022
