HomeNEWSIRAN NEWSProtests in Sistan and Baluchestan after security forces open fire on civilians
NEWSIRAN NEWS

Protests in Sistan and Baluchestan after security forces open fire on civilians

By Mahmoud Hakamian
mahabad protests june 28
Protesters in Mahabad commemorate the martyrs of the nationwide uprising—June 28, 2023

On Wednesday, security forces in the city of Sarbaz, located in Sistan and Baluchestan province, indiscriminately opened fire on a civilian vehicle, injuring two passengers. Following the incident, the outraged people of the city held a protest rally and clashed with security forces.

The incident happened against the backdrop of increasing repressive measures by the regime. In recent weeks and months, security forces have shot and killed several civilians. On Wednesday, the people of Sarbaz chanted slogans against the regime and resisted the repressive security forces dispatched to disperse their rally.

People in other cities of the province protested to the brutality of the regime’s security forces. In Zahedan, locals held a rally and blocked roads in protest to the indiscriminate killing of civilians. Protests also took place in the city of Kalat, where security forces opened fire and injured a child.

On Wednesday, people in Kurdish cities in Iran’s west and northwest regions marked Eid al-Adha by visiting the graves of the protesters killed by the regime’s security forces and commemorating the brave youth who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of their people. Such gatherings were held in the cities of Bukan, Mahabad, and Sanandaj.

In Bukan, the mothers of the martyrs of the uprising held the photos of their children at the cemetery to commemorate them.

In Sanandaj, a large crowd gathered at the Behesht-e Mohammadi cemetery to pay homage to the martyrs of the uprising. The regime dispatched a large contingent of security forces in fear of protest rallies.

On Wednesday, the workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-Industry Co. hold third day of rallies in protest to authorities delaying the implementation of job ranking laws. The management of this state-run company refrains from responding to their demands.

The workers of Haft Tappeh have been protesting for their rights and wages for several years. Regime officials have mostly ignored their demands and on some occasions responded with force, arrested workers and dismissing them from work.

Protests also took place in other parts of Iran. In Yasuj, southwest Iran, the employees of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad governorate rally in protest to authorities ignoring their demands.

In Saveh, central Iran, the customers of the state-run Khabazan Cooperative housing company hold rally in protest to the municipality ignoring their long-standing demands.

Retirees and pensioners also continued their protests on Wednesday. In Kermanshah, western Iran, pensioners and retirees of the education sector hold rally, protesting low pensions and poor living conditions.

In the past few years, retirees across Iran have been protesting their deteriorating living conditions, especially as the government refuses to adjust their pensions based on the inflation rate and fluctuations in the price of the rial, Iran’s national currency. The price of most basic goods have spiked severalfold while pensioners continue to receive the same stipends as before.

Retirees and pensioners are regularly holding protest rallies to claim their rights. On Sunday and Monday, the pensioners of the Iranian regime’s Social Security Organization and the telecommunications industry held protest rallies in several cities across the country, including Tehran, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Sanandaj, Tabriz, Kermanshah, Arak, Shiraz, Shahr-e Kord, Sari, Bandar Abbas, Shush, Shushtar, and Tehran.

In the past few years, retirees across Iran have been protesting their deteriorating living conditions, especially as the government refuses to adjust their pensions based on the inflation rate and fluctuations in the price of the rial, Iran’s national currency. The price of most basic goods have spiked severalfold while pensioners continue to receive the same stipends as before.

For several years regime officials have been making promises to implement the law for adjusting pensions. But as they continue to dither and delay, the lives of pensioners, who rely solely on government stipends, continue to spiral into poverty.

The Social Security Organization and retirement funds have become the center of much tension recently. Government officials are constantly warning about funds being emptied of creditor deposits and the potential for more intense protests happening in the future.

Protests rallies continue as people throughout Iran hold the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei responsible for their miseries, while also condemning the oppressive the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and paramilitary Basij units, alongside other security units that are on the ground suppressing the peaceful demonstrators.

The latest round of nationwide protests began in Iran 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, 2022, 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.

Protests that began in September expanded to at least 282 cities. Over 750 people have been killed and more than 30,000 are arrested by the regime’s forces, according to sources of Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The names of 675 killed protesters have been published by the PMOI/MEK. People continue to take to streets despite the regime’s repressive measures and new wave of executions.

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