White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Monday that the entire world is watching the current situation in Iran, reiterating that the United States stands with the Iranians.
In a series of tweets, Sullivan said that “The world is watching what is happening in Iran,” pointing to several innocent protestors, including a young girl, who were shot dead over the weekend.
He decried the remarks by Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi who compared protestors to “flies,” noting that “These protestors are Iranian citizens, led by women and girls, demanding dignity and basic rights.”
He vowed to stand behind the protesters, saying that Washington will hold responsible those using violence in a vain effort to silence their voices.
On Saturday, October 8, Sullivan spoke with Iranian women’s and human rights activists about how the US can continue to support protestors in Iran.
US Envoy for Iran Rob Malley told NPR last week that "What the US wants is a government in Iran that respects people's fundamental rights. It's not a policy of regime change. It's a policy of backing people who're protesting peacefully, because they want to be able not to wear a headscarf yet face an oppressive system."
Washington on October 6 imposed sanctions on seven Iranian officials over the shutdown of internet access and the crackdown on peaceful protesters. The EU are also putting significant pressure on Iran to stop Tehran from mistreatment of citizens
Several people were killed on Sunday during prisoners’ clashes with guards in Lakan Prison in the northern province of Gilan, a local prosecutor confirmed Monday.
The prosecutor general of the province Mehdi Fallah-Miri said on Monday that the clashes erupted among some inmates in the prison in the provincial capital city of Rasht.
He added that damage to the facilities of the prison and the power outage prevented infirmary workers from providing care to the injured, which led to the death of some of the prisoners. He did not disclose the number of casualties but confirmed that some of the injured are still under treatment in one of the hospitals of Rasht.
Fallah-Miri claimed that the situation is back to normal, but according to reports security forces are still stationed around the prison and streets leading to the prison are still blocked.
However, there are some reports that contradict the claims by the official, saying that the clashes had nothing to do with conflicts between the prisoners.
According to some sources, who spoke to Radio Farda on condition of anonymity, some of the prisoners revolted against the prison guards during a transfer of some prisoners, who took some officers hostage and took control of the corridors.
Prisoners from other wards joined the rioters, and the conflicts escalated. Prison guards, who could not control the situation, asked for outside reinforcement, the sources said.
Computers, cameras, and phone lines in the prison have been reportedly destroyed while there are reports of the fire, gunshots and teargas on social media.
Protests reignited in several Iranian cities Monday evening, as oil workers went on strike in the south and activists called for nationwide rallies on Wednesday.
The day started with a few protest gathering in universities, as news emerged that hundreds of oil workers in Asalouyeh, on the Persian Gulf coast went on a strike and blocked roads near processing plants. Reports later on Monday indicated that a few plants were shut down by managers, but workers' groups vowed to continue protests in the surrounding area.
In the evening Tehran time social media accounts began reporting protests in the capital, several cities in western Iran and in the south. Below we provide news and videos about these demonstrations.
But what constitutes perhaps a more important developments was a statement by a group of activists known as ‘Tehran Youth’ for nationwide protests on Wednesday. This was the group that had called for the large protests on Saturday, October 8, that brought out crowds in various parts of Tehran and several other cities, showing the power of the “revolutionaries”, as many nowadays call themselves.
Tehran Youth issued a statement calling for Wednesday’s protest in response to security forces opening fire with military weapons against protesters in the Kurdish city of Sanandaj Sunday night, killing several people, although a reliable number does not exist. Some sources say four people were shot dead.
The Kurdish human rights group Hengaw reported Monday that security forces committed many "crimes against the people of Sanandaj," but due to a total internet blackout, no images are available yet. The group said that they have received many voice messages about these incidents.
Our live coverage ended at 01:00 Tehran time on Tuesday.
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Amnesty International in this Persian tweet warns about the situation in Sanandaj, saying security forces have been using guns against protesters and firing tear gas into people's homes.
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Protests took place Monday night in Nezam Abad district of Tehran. One tweet around 23:30 local time said that people used incendiary devices against security forces but the government has slowed down Internet connection and it is hard to send images.
Another tweet from Tehran said that gunfire was being heard from Nezam Abad, around the same time. Two explosion were also heard in the area, presumed to be some kind of homemade device thrown at Basij forces.
One video showed a government agent who fell into the hands of the protesters.
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A group of protesters marching in the Ekbatan district of Tehran, chanting "Death to the dictator".
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Protesters in Marvdasht in southern Fars Province are trying to set fire to a banner bearing the image of IRGC general Qasem Soleimani who was killed by a targeted American air strike in Iraq in January 2020.
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Protesters have lit fires and blocked roads in the western city of Kermanshah. The tweet says they have control of the streets.
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People chanting "Death to the dictator" from their windows and balconies in a district of Tehran.
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Protests in the western Kurdish city of Sanandaj on Monday after security forces fired military weapons at protesters the day before and killed several people. These protests continued Monday evening.
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Another video showing security forces again firing at protesters in Sanandaj Monday evening.
Another video from Sanandaj in which gun shots are heard.
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Protesters shout "Death to the dictator in Saqqez, a pre-dominantly Kurdish city and the hometown of Mahsa Amini, the young woman who died in the custody of hijab police and her death triggered the current protests.
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Drivers honking in the northwestern city of Tabriz and blocking and blocking streets, a protest tactic.
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Drivers and pedestrians protesting in the southern city of Shiraz Monday evening, chanting "Death to the dictator."
Protesters in Kazerun, southern n Iran appear to be running away from security forces Monday evening.
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Protest in the western city of Hamedan Monday evening. Demonstrators are chanting, "Death to the dictator."
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A large protest by students in Amir Kabir University in Tehran on Monday.
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Britain has sanctioned Iran's so-called “morality” or hijab police, over its threats of detention and violence to control what Iranian women wear and how they behave in public.
"These sanctions send a clear message to the Iranian authorities – we will hold you to account for your repression of women and girls and for the shocking violence you have inflicted on your own people," Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement on Monday.
He noted that the sanctions are imposed on morality police in its entirety, as well as both its chief, Mohammed Rostami Cheshmeh-Gachi, and the head of the Tehran Division, Ahmad Mirzaei.
The new measures mean that the designated individuals cannot travel to Britain and any of their assets held in Britain will be frozen.
The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in hijab police custody has sparked protests against the theocratic regime across Iran and internationally, with Iranian demonstrators calling for the downfall of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Republic.
Last week, the British foreign ministry said it had summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires, Tehran’s most senior diplomat in Britain, over the crackdown on the protests. As fierce antigovernment demonstrations have entered their fourth week and close to 200 protesters are reported to have been killed by security forces, European countries, the United States and Canada have issued statements and some sanctions against those Iranian officials who have been identified as responsible for using repressive measures.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday Russia had used Iran-made drones responding to Saturday’s attack on the Kerch bridge linking Crimea with the mainland.
After explosions in several Ukrainian cities Monday morning, ending months of calm in Kyiv and reportedly killing at least eight in the capital, Zelensky gave a video address on social media. “This morning is difficult,” he said. “We are dealing with terrorists. Dozens of missiles and Iranian Shaheds. They have two targets: energy facilities throughout the country…[and] people. There may be temporary power outages now, but there will never be an interruption in our confidence – our confidence in victory.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday the truck-bombing of the Kerch bridge, Europe’s longest and linking Russian-held Crimea to the mainland, was “a terrorist act” organized by Ukrainian intelligence agents and “aimed at destroying critical Russian civilian infrastructure.”
Zelensky’s claims over Iranian drones were the latest from Ukrainian leaders. Last week Oleksiy Kuleba, head of the Kyiv military administration, said six explosions 75km south of Kyiv in a military base at Bila Tserkva were caused by Iranian-made Shahed-136 delta-wing ‘kamikaze’ drones.
‘Cheap alternative’
Ukrainian officials had earlier suggested the drones offer Moscow an easily-assembled, cheap alternative to high-precision missiles or piloted air raids, although Nataliya Gumenyuk, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian military command, recently told AFP news agency the Shahed-136’s effectiveness was “very low”. In the Bila Tserkva attack, six drones were shot down, while another six crashed into buildings, injuring one soldier.
Tehran has denied supplying drones to Russia. Iran foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani last week said media reports were “baseless.” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan claimed July Iran had agreed to supply drones to Russia, a warning repeated by officials several times. In September, the US imposed sanctions on several companies for helping or facilitating the drone transfers to Russia.
Ukraine is also lobbying for increased supplies of US weapons. Politico reported Monday that discussions on air-defense batteries would “loom large at the US-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group… in Brussels later this week.” Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said “the best response to Russian missile terror is the supply of anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems to Ukraine” so as to “protect the future of Europe.”
Ukraine seeks Israeli arms as rhetoric escalates
Ukraine is also keen to source arms from Israel, a top-ten global weapons exporter and the Middle East’s main drone producer alongside Turkey. While Ankara has supplied Ukraine since 2019 with the advanced Bayraktar TB-2drone, Israel has been reluctant to arm Ukraine due to its generally good relations with Russia, a situation Zelensky claimed in September had left him “in shock.” With parliamentary elections due November 8, Israeli politicians are also wary of alienating the Russian-speakers m around 15 percent of voters.
In a further sign of possible escalation in the ten-month Russia-Ukraine conflict, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Monday he had ordered troop deployment alongside Russian forces near Ukraine in response to what he said were planned Ukrainian “strikes” on the territory of Belarus. The Ukrainian military claimed Saturday Russia had deployed Iranian drones in Belarus.
“Tell the president of Ukraine and the other lunatics: if they touch one meter of our territory then the Crimean Bridge will seem to them like a walk in the park,” Lukashenko said.
Justifying Russia’s actions in a televised address, Putin said Russia would respond again if Ukraine hit Russian territory. “The Kyiv regime, with its actions, has put itself on the same level as international terrorist organizations… To leave such acts without a response is simply impossible.”
Russia has also threatened the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Zelensky October 6 called for “preemptive strikes” by Nato so that Russia knew “what will happen to them if they use it,” leading to Russian charges that the Ukrainian president wanted to turn the conflict nuclear.
The Islamic Republic authorities are increasing pressure on Iranian celebrities as their support for the current uprising is growing on social media and during various events.
Ali Saeedi Shahroudi, the head of the Political and Ideological Office of the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and former representative of the Supreme Leader in the Revolutionary Guards, said on Monday that Iran should establish an organization to oversee the behavior of musicians, actors and sports stars similar to government-controlled outfits regulating professional groups.
The members of the country’s Engineering Organization or the Medical Council of the Islamic Republic cannot do whatever they want in fear of the consequences, he said, calling for establishing such a system for celebrities. Artists “committed to the Islamic Republic” should get to work and create such associations, Shahroudi said.
Since the beginning of the current wave of protests across Iran, sparked by the murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody of hijab police, the Islamic Republic has confiscated passports of numerous celebrities and also detained several others over their support for the uprising.
Protests over the death of Mahsa Amini have gained more public support and demonstrations against the ruling theocratic regime and calls for a secular, democratic government have intensified. The unrest has been amplified by social media and, in some cases, celebrities with large online followings, such as footballers Ali Karimi and Ali Daei or singers such as Shervin Hajipour – whose song has become a manifesto for anti-regime demonstrators.