Protests continued in several cities in Iran on Saturday, as the regime continues to ratchet up repressive measures and executions to stifle the uprising that began in September. In Tehran, the students of Tehran Art University continued their protest rallies following a new wave of restrictions and repressive rules implemented by the regime.
According to activists, plainclothes agents attacked the students’ rally and arrested at least 10 students. The arrestees were carried away in a van without a license plate. Special forces were also present at the scene.
Security forces also barred other students from entering the campus to prevent the protests from expanding. Videos from around the campus show security forces lined up to counter student protests.
June 17 – Tehran, #Iran
Footage shows security forces being deployed to Tehran University of Art as students continue their protests to the regime's new restrictions.pic.twitter.com/smujty04Y8— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 17, 2023
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.
On Saturday, locals in Sarableh, Ilam province, gather in front of the governorate in protest to the arrest of six people a few days earlier. According to reports by activists, the six arrestees were abducted by security forces for political activities. The protesters declared on Saturday, that if the prisoners are not released, there will be a general strike in the city on Monday.
June 17 – Sarableh, Western #Iran
Locals gather in front of the governorate in protest to the arrest of six people a few days earlier.
The protesters declared that if the prisoners are not released, there will be a general strike in the city on Monday. pic.twitter.com/5obLS08lDr— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 17, 2023
In Tehran, a group of customers of the state-run Iran Khodro car manufacturer held a rally in protest to the company’s policies on the pricing and options of its Dena Plus vehicle. Customers who have made down payments for the vehicle are seeing the price of the Dena Plus rise and its quality decrease.
Protests in Iran have to this day 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.
Nightly protests were reported in at least one district of Tehran. In Chitgar, the locals were chanting “Down with Khamenei!” in defiance of the regime’s efforts to create an environment of terror.
June 17 – Tehran, #Iran
Protesters in Chitgar district are chanting, "Down with Khamenei!"#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/WsVTOfih4M— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 17, 2023
On Friday, brave Baluchis in the restive city of Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan & Baluchestan in southeast Iran, took to streets again in new anti-regime protests and rejection of any kind of dictatorship in their country. These protests took place despite the regime’s extensive security measures and internet restrictions.
The regime sent large contingents of forces to the cities of Sistan and Baluchestan to prevent protests from taking place after the weekly Friday prayers. The regime also deployed repressive forces at a police station near the Great Makki Mosque in Zahedan, where people gather for Friday prayers every week and hold their protest rallies afterwards. Internet access was severely disrupted in Zahedan.
#IranProtests at a Glance on Friday, June 16, 2023 pic.twitter.com/KZoZ1TOAe2
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 17, 2023
Videos from Zahedan also show that as Friday prayers were being held, the regime flew helicopters over the city in anticipation of protests.
However, these measures did not prevent the people of Zahedan from holding their weekly protest rallies after the Friday prayers.
June 16 – Zahedan, Southeast #Iran
As Friday prayers are being held, regime authorities have deployed choppers in anticipation of protests.#IranProtests2023 pic.twitter.com/mlD4bMIRnk— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 16, 2023
Protesters held placards that condemned the regime’s brutal response to protests and chanted slogans against the regime:
“I will kill those who killed my brother!”
“My martyred brother, I will avenge your blood!”
“We will fight! We will die! We will take back Iran!”
“Kurds, Baluch, Azeris, freedom and equality!”
“Political prisoners must be freed!”
“Iranians! Unity, revolution, freedom!”
June 16 – Zahedan, Southeast #Iran
Protesters chanting, "My martyred brother, I will avenge your blood!" #IranProtests2023 pic.twitter.com/OqhWI8JhWT— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 16, 2023
Friday also marked the birthday of Majidreza Rahnavard, a youth who was executed by the regime in December for taking part in the nationwide protests. Rahnavard was hanged after being subjected to severe torture and forced to make incriminating confessions.
In Mashhad, Majidreza’s hometown, the regime resorted to extreme security measures to prevent protests from taking shape on Majidreza’s birthday. Security forces were deployed to block roads that lead to Behesht-e Reza, the cemetery where Majidreza is buried to prevent any form of assembly or protest.
June 16 – Zahedan, Southeast #Iran
Protesters holding a placard that reads, "Down with the tyrant, be it the Shah or the mullahs!"#IranProtests2023 pic.twitter.com/EX6uaDx2Gv— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 16, 2023
The protests in Iran 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.
