Iran’s Regime Faces Danger If It Ignores Protests, Says Pundit

Amjad Amini said in an interview on Wednesday that he and his brother-in-law were threatened by authorities to give interviews to support the narrative of the Islamic Republic about the death of Mahsa, who received fatal blows to her head while in custody.. 

"Islamic Republic’s state broadcaster was the last media that contacted me, and I told them frankly that I will not give and interview to them under any circumstances; Three weeks later, they called me and expected me to speak to them. I asked them about the reason to interview me,” he said. 

"I did not allow them to speak to tell me their demands," he said. 

He said he asked about the reason for her daughter's death, but the authorities told him that it is none of his business and they will announce whatever is in the interest of the Islamic Republic. 

Iran International obtained Amini’s brain CT scan from hospital sources in September that shows serious injuries to her skull. Hospital staff also confirmed that she was in a coma upon arrival. Fars news agency affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard confirmed that the CT scan belonged to Amini. Moreover, her photos in the hospital show her bleeding from the right ear, a definite sign of brain injury.

These included Tom Tugendhat, Minister of State for Security, Commodore Don Mackinnon, British naval commander in the Persian Gulf, and Steve McCabe, member of parliament ad Chair of Labour Friends of Israel, as well as media outlets and their owners including BBC Persian and Iran International. Iran also cited the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the intelligence center known as ‘GCHQ.’

During recent unrest, Iranian officials have complained about foreign media and social media operators, including those in Britain reporting on protests and airing interviews with Iranian pundits based abroad, including state-funded media. The clerical regime in Iran has taken exception to news and commentaries it claims are justifying attacks on government employees and ambulances, while it does not allow the media in Tehran to report on the protests.

The government has also often cut off access to the Internet or slowed down cyber traffic for more than a month to prevent news and images of the protests from being shared among the people.

The official news website IRNA said the named individuals would not be allowed to enter Iran and that any assets held under Iranian jurisdiction would be confiscated. It said the measure did not preclude criminal prosecution and that Iran still considered the British government “accountable for supporting terrorists and human rights violators who organize and incite riots and terrorist acts in Iran from its soil.”

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also said Wednesday Iran would designate 19 US and European officials and entities over sanctions and “incitement to violence.”

Iran has been persecuting journalists working for the BBC, US funded international broadcasters Voice of America and Radio Farda, as well staff at Iran International and other media organizations. Family members have been harassed for more than a decade and direct threats made against journalists.

Iran’s 83-year-old ruler Ali Khamenei and other officials have blamed the protests on “foreign enemies” and “their media”, while pundits and some politicians in Iran have been warning for months that the social and political atmosphere was ripe for popular demonstrations and unrest.

In fact, protests have been going on almost continuously since December 2017, when rising prices first led to nationwide disturbances. In November 2019, a sudden government hike in gasoline prices also led to widespread protests during which security forces killed at least 1,500 civilians.

The current protests that started on September 16 were triggered by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was arrested three days earlier for her "improper hijab." Women and young people have led the protests demanding regime change, with their favorite slogan being "Death to the dictator."

At the same time, strikes by oil and petrochemical workers that started last week has spread to more plants, including contract workers at the South Pars natural gas fields that produce around 70 percent of the country’s energy needs.

Anonymous activists that have been calling for protests in October, urged people to come out into the streets on Wednesday and again Saturday. The activists call themselves Tehran Youth, or in other cities by the same template, such as Esfahan Youth.

They also urged the people to protest in their own neighborhoods, as opposed to concentrated large demonstrations. The tactic is meant to leave security forces guessing about the next hot spot and shift the protests from one location to another.

Early Wednesday evening protests were reported in Tehran, Esfahan, Arak and several western cities with Kurdish-majority population and in the south. The government shut down mobile Internet access, which greatly reduced the number of videos and photos being posted on social media.

Meanwhile, protests do take place every day in different cities. Demonstrations continued in several cities such as Ahvaz Tuesday night and in some areas of Tehran such as Ekbatan, where small groups protested while others joined in the chanting from their apartment windows.

In Tehran’s Gisha neighborhood someone even brought a loudspeaker out to lead the chanting.

In addition to universities, high school students also continue sporadic protests, even after security forces showed they are willing to raid schools and beat up children. Last week, one schoolgirl died in the norther city of Ardabil after being assaulted by plainclothes Basij enforcers under the command of the notorious Revolutionary Guard.

We provided live updates below as we receive news and videos from Iran. Our live coverage ended at 24:00 local time.

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Two women standing on a street in the Ekabatan district of Tehran and giving hugs to passerby. The action is called "A hug for a sad nation".

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Protest in Bandar Abbas, a port city on the Persian Gulf.

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Protesters in a street in southern Tehran. The voice in the video calls on residents to come out, telling them not to be afraid.

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A short video just received shows protests in a street in Esfahan.

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Text messages from the working class Nazi Abad district of Tehran speak of fierce clashes between protesters and security forces, who are using 'bird shots' from shotguns and tear gas.

There are no images available yet from Nazi Abad but below is a photo showing what happens when people are shot with these special shotgun pellets.

The Ekbatan district also witnessing large protests, but no videos available yet.

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Protesters chanting "Death to Khamenei" in Kermanshah, western Iran, while they lit fires in the streets to prevent movement of security forces and as a precaution against tear gas.

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News on verified Twitter accounts say fierce protests have been going on in the central city of Esfahan between demonstrators and security forces, although there are no videos yet. The video below shows protesters in a small town in Esfahan province.

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Protesters blocked roads in Mashhad and cars are honking to show support for those in the streets.

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People in the Narmak district of Tehran came out to protest during the day on Wednesday even before 6 pm time announced by activists.

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Demonstrators on the streets of Arak, central Iran Wednesday evening.

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A short video from Karaj, a city 30 miles west of Tehran shows protesters marching in the streets.

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Protest in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, capital of the oil-rich Khuzestan province. Demonstrators are chanting, "From Ahvaz to Tehran, my life for Iran".

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People protesting in Kamyaran, in western Iran, chanting against dictatorship.

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Student protest in Zahedan medical university earlier in the day.

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Protest in the western city of Sanandaj Wednesday evening.

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Cars on a boulevard in Tehran honking their horns as a sign of support for protesters on foot, early Wednesday evening.

During his meeting with a group of people who were called “academicians” he once again seemed ignoring available information on the ground accusing the “enemies” of being behind the demonstrations at universities.

He claimed that some threaten the professors on the phone not to show up, but that professors are not “the perpetrators”; the one behind the scenes is important. He added that “enemies of the country” are after “crippling, closing down and ruining the universities.”

Interestingly, Khamenei also acknowledged that there are serious problems in the country. He admitted that the elites are leaving Iran, and some “prominent” ones who studied abroad, returned hoping to be able to work, but when they realized it is not possible to live in Iran due to “hurdles,” they left.

His comments come as on Wednesday students at different universities in Iran kept up their anti-regime protests.

Students of Al-Zahra University of Tehran wrote slogans against Khamenei on the doors and walls of classrooms.

A photo has also been sent to Iran International, which shows another slogan written on a board at Esfahan Art University reading “Dear student and teacher, the ink of your pen is blood.”

Meanwhile, hardliners intensified threats against dissidents on Wednesday. Hossein Shariatmadari editor of Kayhan newspaper in an editor’s note rejected any negotiations, calling the protesters “a handful of rioters, murderers and mercenaries have attacked people's lives and property. There is nothing but destruction, arson, murder, and crime in their vocabulary.”

Kayhan is published under the supervision of Khamenei's office.

Another hardliner paper Javan, which is affiliated to the Revolutionary Guard, lashed out at the popular football star Ali Daie for challenging Iranian lawmakers to tell the truth and be accountable for the death of a teenage girl who lost her life when regime thugs in a school in Ardabil beat her. Daie himself was born in Ardabil.

Daie , who was an international football star, is one of the most popular figures in Iran, but Shariatmadari threatened him with prosecution, confiscation of property and even death. It claimed that Daie is “deceived” and asked him not to get involved in such issues.

Daie earlier had rejected the allegations of the regime that the young Iranian girl had committed suicide or was suffering from heart disease.

The daily also called another Iranian football legend Ali Karimi “uneducated” and Mehrdad Pouladi, the former national player a “tramp” because of their anti-regime comments.

These sort of statements by hardliners will lead to more popular anger against the regime.

Earlier, Deputy Commander of Police Force Qassem Rezaie also said that “chaos, unrest and damage to the people” is a redline for the police and law enforcement agents will no longer show restraint against “norm breakers, rioters and the dissent.”

Rezaie repeated the cliché remarks of regime officials, especially Khamenei, blaming the protests on the “sworn enemies.” He said they are after creating “sedition” in the country by “exaggerating the problems” to “deceive” some people.

On Tuesday, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, who is wanted by the Interpol in connection with the murder of 85 people at a Jewish center in Argentina back in 1994, also linked the current protests to “enemies”.

He once again blamed the riots on “the adversaries’ news channels”, referring to Persian speaking foreign-based television stations beaming programs into Iran, claiming they are trying “to create chaos, but to no avail.”

According to reports obtained by Iran International, Iranian plainclothes agents raided a girls' high school in Ardabil, northwest of Iran and an Azari speaking city October 12, injuring at least 10 students and arresting seven others. 

One schoolgirl, identified as Asra Panahi, died of internal bleeding. Reportedly, the government was trying to force the schoolgirls to participate in a pro-regime rally to force the students to sing the propaganda song “Hello Commander” in praise of Iran’s ruler Ali Khamenei, but when some students refused, Basij militias showed up, beating and assaulting the girls. 

Human rights activist Yashar Hakkakpour has told VOA that in addition to Asra Panahi, two other students, identified as Aytak Mikaili and Hana Dourdouzani, were also killed during the clampdown on the schoolgirls. He claimed that the girl who is now hospitalized in ICU is Anita Khojasteh. He added that 80 students were taken to hospital in 11 ambulances following the attack by the regime’s agents.

Hardliner news agencies published video of an interview with the uncle of the dead girl, who said she had died of a congenital heart condition at home.

School children have been also protesting forced hijab after Mahsa Amini was killed in ‘morality’ police custody in mid-September. An unknown number of school students have been arrested and sent to what the government says are “psychological” rehabilitation centers, which no one has ever heard about.

On Sunday, October 16, the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations called for the resignation of the Islamic Republic’s Education Minister Yousef Nouri amid arrests and killings of many students across the country.

Amid nationwide protests that have even mobilized Iranian high school students, the Islamic Republic authorities are removing photos of the Supreme Leader from classrooms in fear of students damaging the portraits.