Iranians Continue Protests Wednesday After Nightfall

Iranians once again braved the violent crackdown by the Islamic Republic and poured into streets Wednesday evening, amid threats of death sentences for protesters.

In the central city of Isfahan, angry protesters held rallies near Chaharbagh neighborhood while city officials had cut the electricity in several districts.

People in Tabriz took to streets and in Mashhad, northeast, demonstrators set fire at billboards to show anger at government brutality.

Youths in Bukan in West Azarbaijan province blocked the transit road to Tabriz by lighting fires. In the Kurdish city of Marivan demonstrators were chanting that they will not stop their fight against the authoritarian rule.

Videos show that protesters used a mosque loudspeaker to invite their fellow citizens to join them in their movement.

In the city of Mahabad in West Azarbaijan some overnight protests were staged with people lighting fires and blocking streets.

People in Shiraz published some fliers to call for a protest rally on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, a huge crowd of people attended a mourning procession of a young woman who was killed by security forces forty days ago in the northern city of Nowshahr.

Reports say many people travelled from several other cities to commemorate Hannaneh Kia. They chanted “Death to Khamenei,” and “Death to Dictator.” Videos on social media show that regime forces fired tear gas near the house of the victim.

Videos on social media show people in Qazvin took to streets after nightfall. In capital Tehran women chanted antigovernment slogans on the subway and residents in Ekbatan district repeated their nightly vigil and chanted antigovernment slogans from their windows despite attacks by plainclothes who fired at buildings during the past few nights.

Some other videos show use of violence against peaceful demonstrators in Chitgar neighborhood in western capital.

On Wednesday afternoon, doctors, residents, and medical students of Tehran’s Khomeini Hospital also gathered in front of the Tehran Medical Council chanting slogans in support of the uprising and protested the brutal treatment of medical staff.

The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) in a statement on Wednesday urged the international community to warn the Iranian authorities against issuing death sentences against detained protesters.

“Issuing death sentences against the protesters—after the Iranian authorities have unlawfully arrested tens of thousands of peaceful protesters and killed hundreds through the indiscriminate use of lethal force to squash the protests—is a blatant attempt to terrorize the Iranian people into silence; it will cement the Islamic Republic’s status as an outlaw state that has no regard for law or life,” said Hadi Ghaemi, CHRI executive director.

In a meeting Monday, Tehran Province Prosecutor Ali Alghasi Mehr said some 1,000 indictments had been issued in connection with recent “riots”.

In the same meeting, Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Eje’i said, “Those who intend to confront and subvert the regime are dependent on foreigners and will be punished according to legal standards,”suggesting that some protesters would be charged with collaborating with foreign governments.

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly made claims that “foreign enemies” have provoked the unrest without any evidence.

On Sunday, the Iranian regime charged six people in Tehran with “waging war,” “corruption on earth,” “assembly and collusion against national security” and “confronting the Islamic Republic” for participating in the protests.

“Waging war” and “corruption on earth” are charges that can lead to a death sentence.

“Death sentences against people for exercising their right to freedom of expression, after the killings of peaceful protesters, abductions and gunning down of children, and other atrocities, indicate a government that is out of control and willing to squash protest at any cost,” said the statement by Center for Human Rights in Iran.