Status: 11/20/2022 5:30 p.m
Use of tanks, shots at demonstrators – according to eyewitnesses, the situation in the Iranian Kurdish areas is escalating. The protests are also continuing in other parts of the country. The US sees a threat to the entire Middle East.
According to eyewitnesses, protests in the Kurdish city of Mahabad in northwestern Iran have resulted in massive violence. Accordingly, police and security forces are said to have marched into the city with tanks on Saturday evening and shot at demonstrators indiscriminately.
The electricity in the city was also switched off for a short time. The situation had escalated – numerous residents were injured, as eyewitnesses reported. It was unclear whether there were any deaths. The accounts could not be independently verified.
After days of protests, activists fear a bloody crackdown on the demonstrations in the city. In the province of West Azerbaijan, armed troops from Urmia have been deployed to Mahabad, the Norwegian-based human rights organization Hengaw said. Activists accuse the leadership in Tehran of a bloody campaign of repression in the Kurdish regions.
Human rights organizations report shots
Videos shared thousands of times on social media showed military convoys driving through the streets. The Oslo-based human rights organization Hengaw reported helicopters circling over the sky of the Kurdish city.
“There is a lot of shooting in the residential areas of Mahabad,” the organization said on Twitter. The location and time of the recordings could not initially be independently verified. Shopkeepers across the region went on strike on Sunday to protest the security forces’ violence, Hengaw said.
The organization Iran Human Rights (IHR), also based in Norway, published recordings on Sunday night in which, according to them, shots and screams can be heard in the city.
Protests in Kurdish areas are increasing
Hengaw had already warned on Saturday of a “critical” situation in the city of Diwandarreh in Kurdistan province, where government troops had shot at least three civilians. On Sunday, the organization also expressed concern about the situation in other Kurdish-majority cities, including Bukan and Sakes. The protests there had recently increased.
Sakes is the hometown of Mahsa Amini. The death of the young Kurd had sparked the protests in Iran that had been going on for two months. The 22-year-old died in hospital in Tehran in mid-September after being arrested by the vice squad for allegedly wearing a headscarf improperly. Activists accuse the police of abusing Amini. Tehran is taking tough action against the demonstrators across the country.
The judiciary should also investigate numerous celebrities
According to media reports, there were renewed protests in other parts of the country on Saturday evening against the Islamic leadership’s repressive course. The Iranian judiciary is said to have initiated investigations against several celebrities from politics, film and sport. Two former members of parliament, five actresses and a football coach were therefore summoned for questioning. They are accused of making “provocative and insulting” statements to officials on social media.
According to IHR, at least 378 people have been killed in the protests, including 47 children. Iran’s Tasnim news agency, meanwhile, accused “rioters” of “spreading terror” in Mahabad by setting fire to the homes of security and military personnel and blocking roads.
US sees “imminent danger” for the region
Earlier in November, Iran had warned its rival neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, that it could retaliate in the face of protests in the country. In addition, the country had threatened to develop a hypersonic missile. Against the background of increasing tensions with Iran, the USA has now announced the expansion of its defense infrastructure in the Gulf region and the Middle East.
Washington is concentrating on averting “imminent threats” in the strategically important and energy-rich region, said the US National Security Council’s coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, Brett McGurk, at the “Manama Dialogue” security conference in Bahrain.
The US also averted a threat from Iran, he said, citing reports that Iran was planning to attack its nemesis Saudi Arabia.