A Building Collapse In Iran Leads To Anti-Government Protests

According to the documents sent to Iran International by Edalat-e Ali (Ali's Justice), signed by deputy prosecutor Mohammad Nasiripur on May 10, the judiciary urged the IRGC to prepare a comprehensive plan to nip the expected protest in the bud as the government was to announce new prices for food and other goods in the wake of the elimination food import subsidies.

The seven-page document – in 12 paragraphs – considered the protests a result of incitement by "internal traitors, dissidents and foreign media" and urged the security apparatus to target “key elements” and "behind-the-scenes leaders" as well as "field agents, organizers, and people participating in the rallies" to prevent the “riots.”

Nasiripur also urged the security forces to boost their control of transportation routes to Tehran, including roads, railways and airlines, to stop weapons and ammunition from entering the city. He also called for the transfer of those arrested to Tehran’s Evin prison within less than 24 hours.

Earlier in the month, the government stopped a key import subsidy, effectively raising bread and other food prices and triggering protests in numerous small towns and cities across the country. But the unrest quickly turned into anti-Islamic Republic protests with people chanting slogans against top government leaders.

Expressing support for the popular protests in the country on Friday, Mohammadi said that the international community should condemn the “killing of people on the streets” similar to the way they put pressure on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

In a message from prison obtained by Radio Farda, she described the Islamic Republic’s "violent" and "repressive" actions as worse than the "aggressor" governments such as Russia.

The activist also called on the people not to abandon the families of those killed and detained by continuing their protest rallies and “mass civil disobedience”, adding that protests are the legal right of the Iranian people.

The main cause of poverty and high prices in Iran is the "widespread systematic looting and corruption" by officials, she claimed, noting that the current miserable situation in the country is the outcome of an "authoritarian government".

Mohammadi was arrested last November, and she was sentenced to eight years in jail and 70 lashes, for trumped-up political charges in a five-minute trial in late January.

Protests began in Iran on May 6 as the government drastically raised food prices, leaving tens of millions of Iranians in danger of facing hunger as inflation surpassing 40 percent has depleted their means to buy basic food.

Several members of the US Congress as well as the State Department have voiced support for protesters, calling on the Biden administration for a more active response to the crackdown on the protests.

An IRGC official in Khuzestan, Colonel Mohammadreza Leilizadeh, said Thursday evening that 65 battalions of male and 28 battalions of female members of the Basij will be participating in the exercises.

A large gathering was also held at the Imam Khomeini tomb complex in Tehran by the IRGC's Sarallah force in Tehran, which is tasked to deal with protests and defend centers of government power in the capital.

Basij is one of the IRGC’s five forces, which partly consists of volunteers who receive military training under IRGC command. Armed Basij militia are often deployed to suppress protesters and have been accused of brutalizing protesters. In the past two weeks protesters have attacked at least two Basij headquarters in three small towns -- Hafshajan, Jouneghan, and Baba Heydar – in in Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari Province.

The militia’s urban exercises come amid a tense security atmosphere and massive internet disruptions in most cities and towns of the oil-rich province where protesters took to the streets two weeks ago over the announcement of a massive hike in food prices. In the past two weeks at least two more protesters have been killed in Khuzestan.

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Security forces usually respond to protests with tear gas and excessive force, including lethal force, and arrest protesters even when they are demonstrating peacefully. Social media reports indicate that at least five protesters have been shot dead by security forces in western provinces since May 6.

Leilizadeh said the aim of the exercises is to improve the preparedness of the militia “to carry out real operations in social arenas throughout the region” and “psychological operations commensurate to the current circumstances” as well as “practicing individual combat technics.”

Protests in Khuzestan over water shortage last July lasted for several weeks and spread to other provinces. More than a dozen protesters were shot dead by security forces in these protests.

The recent protests in Khuzestan have also spread to mainly provinces, including Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari where so far three protesters have been shot dead by security forces. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), an independent human rights monitoring agency, reported on May 15 that protests had taken place in at least 19 cities and towns since May 6.

Leilizadeh also pointed out that similar exercises are being held throughout the country.

On Thursday the official news agency (IRNA) reported the commencement of similar exercises in the northwestern Ardabil province. The capital of the province, the city of Ardabil, was also the scene of anti-government protests last week.

Basij militia also held exercises in Golpayegan in the central Esfahan Province where people have also taken to the streets in the past few days to protest.

Security forces have arrested tens of political, civil, and labor activists in the past two weeks including some members of teachers’ unions on alleged charges of having “ties with terrorist groups’ and foreign spies.

“The arrests of prominent members of civil society in Iran on baseless accusations of malicious foreign interference is another desperate attempt to silence support for growing popular social movements in the country,” said Tara Sepehri Far, senior Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of looking to civil society for help in understanding and responding to social problems, Iran’s government treats them as an inherent threat.”

The Iranian media have apparently been banned from reporting on the protests that began two weeks ago but social media users say protesters took to the streets again in Farsan in Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari Province Wednesday evening and were shot at by security forces.

In Dezful, a city of around 250,000 in southwestern Khuzestan Province, security forces patrolled streets on motorbikes and in full riot gear on Wednesday to prevent a new round of protests.

Extensive disruption of access to the Internet has been reported in Dezful as well as other areas of the province where protests first began two weeks ago including in the provincial capital Ahvaz.

On Wednesday hundreds of residents of Jouneghan, a small town of around 15,000, near Farsan in the same province, marched on the streets during the funeral of Jamshid Mokhtari, a young man shot dead by security forces Monday.

A video posted on social media shows a huge crowd of men in one of the streets of the town beating their chests to the tune of an old song.

“Cruelty of the cruel, Oppression of the ruler, The city is overwhelmed with grief, O God, O Universe, O Nature, Bring light to our dark night!"

Hundreds also marchedTuesday in Babaheydar, another small town with a population of around 11,000 in the province, during the funeral of Behrouz Eslami, a father of two. Eslami was reportedly shot in the head by a Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) officer in Farsan on Monday. Security forces held the body for several days before finally allowing the family to bury their son.

On Tuesday security forces clashed with people attending the funeral of Pishali Ghalebi, a citizen killed by security forces during protests on Friday, in a small village near Aligudarz in the western Lorestan Province. Ghalebi was reportedly shot in the head in Dezful while standing in front of the window inside his house and watching the protests.

There are some claims on social media that security forces have so far killed sixteen protesters in Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari Province which is among Iran’s least-developed and poorest. These reports also claim that shotguns are widely used against protesters.

Social media users also report that security forces have continued arresting protesters as well as political, civil, and labor activists in Dezful and Malekshahi in Lorestan as well as in the capital Tehran where the arrests of activists Keyvan Samimi and Saeed Madani has been reported. The number of detained protesters is not known.

Economic chaos continues in Iran in the wake of a government decision to stop subsidizing food imports. The government says it will compensate for the price increases by paying 90 percent of Iranians a monthly cash subsidy for the time being and will later substitute it with ration cards for cheap staples. The first instalment of the monthly 400,000 rials ($13) subsidy has already been paid into people's bank accounts.

Meanwhile, two more members of bus drivers’ union (Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company) in Tehran were arrested Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. Bus drivers have been on strike since Monday.

Tehran’s hardliner mayor, Alireza Zakani, on Wednesday claimed that the strike had ended after those who incited others to go on strike “were dealt with”. So far, more than a dozen drivers have been arrested.

According to social media reports security forces have maintained a heavy presence in several large cities including the capital Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz, Kermanshah and Ahvaz as well as some smaller towns in western provinces where protests have taken place in the past two weeks.

Tuesday evening protesters took to the streets in Golpayegan, a city of around 50,000 in the central Esfahan Province, for the first time since protests against the government’s decision to remove an import subsidy for staple food and medicine imports began in the southwestern Khuzestan Province two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (SWTSBC) said in its last post on its Telegram channel Tuesday that a dozen drivers were detained.

Authoritiess have continued using police buses and drivers hastily recruited from the Revolutionary Guards and municipality workers to transport passengers in the capital for free.

Bus drivers on strike have vowed not to surrender until their demands, including payment of overdue wages and a 57 percent raise are approved by the Supreme Labor Council more than two months ago, are met.

The authorities have also apparently banned the media from reporting on the protests and the soaring prices of staple foods including bread, pasta, cooking oil, chicken, eggs, and dairy products that sparked the protests. Newspapers and websites in Tehran did not cover the protests on Wednesday.

Access to the Internet has repeatedly been restricted in areas affected by the protests to prevent the news of protests from spreading and images being uploaded to social media.

Videos posted on social media show protesters in Golpayegan chanting against Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and President Ebrahim Raisi, clerics in power, and the Basij militia of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).

“Khamenei Is a Murderer, His Rule Is Illegitimate” and “We Don’t Want IRGC Rule”, protesters in Golpayegan chanted and urged the regular police force, which has a better reputation than the IIRGC, to support them. The Basij militia, under IRGC command, is often deployed to suppress protesters and has been accused of brutalizing protesters.

There were also reports of further protests Tuesday evening in Jouneghan in the western Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari Province where so far security forces have shot dead at least two protesters. Social media reports said Tuesday the authorities had completely shut down internet access in Jouneghan and security forces were shooting at protesters.

Unrest in Shahr-e Kord, the capital of the same province, continued Tuesday and there are videos showing security forces attacking protesters and arresting them. Social media users have also posted videos showing tanks being transported to Shahr-e Kord from neighboring Esfahan Province on Wednesday but the authenticity of the videos cannot be verified.

On Tuesday security forces clashed with people attending the funeral of Pishali Ghalebi, a citizen killed by security forces during protests on Friday, in a small village near Aligudarz in the western Lorestan Province. Ghalebi was reportedly shot in the head in Dezful, Khuzestan Province,while standing in front of the window inside his house and watching the protests.

The number of protesters arrested by security forces is not clear but so far at least six deaths have been reported by social media users.