TEHERAN (IRAN) (ITALPRESS) – An Iranian police officer, Major Shahin Dehghan, was killed in disorders in Malard, west of Tehran, while protests against the rise of the cost of life enter their twelfth day. The agency Fars reports it, specifying that the episode occurred in the last hours in an attempt to contain the riots. The authorities are working to identify those responsible.
Started on 28 December with a strike of traders in the bazaar of Tehran, the demonstrations extended to 25 of the 31 Iranian provinces, focusing mainly in the west of the country, areas with Kurdish majority and lor. According to a count based on official and local media sources, protests involved at least 50 cities, mostly medium and small.
New demonstrations were recorded in several locations yesterday, with episodes of violence that caused the death of two members of the security forces. On Tuesday, for the first time, clashes occurred in the center of the capital, until then only theater of sporadic evening gatherings without serious accidents. The authorities speak of 15 total deaths from the beginning of the protests, including agents. Human rights organizations denounce at least 27 protesters killed by law enforcement in eight provinces and over a thousand arrests. President Masoud Pezeshkian, who adopted relatively moderate tones, yesterday invited security forces not to intervene against peaceful demonstrators by distinguishing them from “sobillators”.
Meanwhile, the army commander Amir Hatami raised the tone against the United States and Israel, defining Donald Trump’s statements on possible military intervention in the event of victims among protesters and the support expressed by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protests. Hatami warned that “in the event of an error of the enemy, the answer will be more decisive” than the 12-day conflict with Israel last June, during which Washington hit Iranian nuclear sites.
– Photo of repertoire IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
