On Thursday, Iranian protesters clashed with police in a city near the capital, killing or wounding several members of the security forces, who at one point threw stun grenades at protesters from helicopters.
It is the latest in a wave of protests that has rocked Iran for more than six weeks and marked one of the most demanding situations for the country’s devoted leaders since they gained strength in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Protesters had rallied in Karaj, just outside Tehran, to mark the 40th day since the shooting death of 22-year-old Hadis Najafi, one of the many young women killed in the protests. The protests were triggered by the death of another woman. Arrested through the country’s vice police.
The 40th day after a person’s death has wonderful symbolism in Shia Islam and is marked by public mourning. Commemorating the death of protesters has given impetus to ongoing protests, as has the 1979 revolution that toppled a Western-backed monarchy.
Videos posted online showed thousands of protesters in Karaj clashing with police. In one, a helicopter flies over protesters and throws flash grenades in an attempt to disperse them before landing in the middle of a road. Government supporters on social media said the helicopter was sent to help wounded policemen.
State news firm IRNA tweeted that police had been attacked in it and released a video showing a police van crashing into a concrete barrier on a highway.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, but videos showed protesters throwing rocks at the vehicle and a man shooting at it while at least three injured people were inside. IRNA then released images of what appeared to be two lifeless bodies.
The semi-official news firm Tasnim reported that 3 policemen were seriously injured in clashes with protesters. Not without delay, it became clear that he referred to the same event. Tasnim also reported that protesters set fire to a kiosk and a police van.
The semi-official Fars news firm said a member of the Basij paramilitary defense force was stabbed to death in Karaj.
The Iranian government severely limits the media policy of the protests and has periodically shut down the web across the country, making it difficult to verify the main points of the unrest.
The protests were sparked by the death on 16 September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by police for allegedly violating Iran’s strict women’s dress code. Authorities say he died due to a medical condition and not abused, however. Her circle of relatives has questioned the story and protesters accuse police of beating her to death.
The first primary protests erupted at Amini’s funeral in his hometown in Iran’s Kurdish region. The protests almost continued and resumed 40 days after his burial.
First, the protests targeted Iran’s enforcement of the Islamic veil, or hijab, with crowds of young women disrupting their noisy street protests. The protests temporarily turned into calls for the overthrow of the theocracy that ruled Iran for more than 4 decades.
Security forces have tried to quell dissent, killing at least 270 others and arresting about 14,000, according to human rights groups.
Iran’s judiciary said more than a thousand people who played a central role in the protests would be brought to justice in Tehran for their “subversive actions,” adding assaulting security guards and setting fire to public property. in other Iranian provinces, some are accused of “corruption on earth” and “war against God”, crimes that carry the death penalty.
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