TEHERAN (IRAN) (ITALPRESS) – The report of the victims in the clashes that occurred yesterday afternoon between protesters and security forces in the south-west of Iran has raised to 7 the number of deaths according to data spread by local media. In Azna, about 300 kilometers south-west of the capital, three people were killed and 17 others were injured in accidents that broke out during a rally. Other cities were the epicenter of tensions recorded these days. At Lordegan, about 650 kilometers from Tehran, the protesters launched stones against administrative buildings, including the seat of the governorate, the mosque, the foundation of the martyrs, the municipality and several banks, before heading towards the prefecture. The police responded with tear gas, according to agency Fars. The Iranian authorities arrested 30 people in Tehran on the charge of “public order disorder” according to the news agency Tasnim. The agency specified that, following a coordinated operation between security and intelligence services, the 30 individuals were identified and arrested on the night between Wednesday and Thursday in Malard, west of Tehran, on the sixth day of demonstrations against the dear life. Persons under arrest are accused of trying to “determine the order”. Initially the Iranian government had faced protests by proposing dialogue: Speaker Fatemeh Mohajerani had announced direct talks with representatives of trade unions and traders, without providing further details, while President Masoud Pezeshkian had asked the Interior Minister to listen to the “legitimate demands” of protesters.
The Iranian economy has been suffering for years for American and Western sanctions related to the nuclear programme. The current protests, which emerged for economic reasons, represent the most serious disorders in the country from the vast demonstrations of three years ago, when Mahsa Amini was brutally murdered by the moral police for not wearing the hijab properly. The wave began at the end of December between the negotiators of the bazaars of Tehran, expanded to large cities such as Isfahan, Shiraz, Kermanshah and Yazd, also involving university students. At the base of mobilization there are hyperinflation, collapse of the national currency and worsening social conditions. In some areas, monarchical slogans and the Supreme Guide are reported, a sign of the radicalization of part of the protest. In this context there is also a comparison with the outside world, and in particular with the United States. The advisor of the Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Ali Shamkhani, threatened today that “any interventionist hand approaching Iran’s security with unfounded claims will be cut before arriving, with a deterrent and costly answer.” The reply comes after US President Donald Trump warned about Truth that, if the Iranian authorities “swimming and killing violently peaceful protesters, as is their custom, the United States will come to their rescue.” “We are loaded and ready,” Trump wrote. Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Iranian National Security Council, also accused the US and Israel of fomenting protests and threatened American troops in the region, stating that “Trump started this adventure” and that “the American people must protect their soldiers.”.
– photos of repertoire IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
