The Death Toll Continues To Rise In Iran As Protests Show No Signs Of Stopping
A burned-out car in Tuyserkan, Hamadan Province, Iran.
Reuters TV / Reuters
Donald Trump has praised the demonstrations in Iran as a sixth day of protests got under way on Tuesday in political unrest that has already claimed at least 20 lives.
Footage showing pale, bloodied young men sprawled out on the floors of medical facilities has flooded the internet in the country's worst political upheaval since a 2009 uprising. Hundreds of people, including at least 400 in the capital, Tehran, have been arrested after protests in the city of Mashhad and other eastern Iranian cities that began last Thursday spread across the country.
As dusk settled on Iran, protesters emerged for a sixth day, according to unverified video footage distributed through the online platform Telegram, urging fellow Iranians to take to the streets in the southwestern city of Ahvaz.
Protesters have called for nighttime demonstrations throughout the country, and for larger rallies on Friday night, according to announcements circulated on social media channels.
Shortly before Trump's comments, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei made his first remarks about the uprising, blaming "enemies" of the country — presumably the US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel — for the recent unrest.
"In recent days, enemies of Iran used different tools including cash, weapons, politics and intelligence services to create troubles for the Islamic Republic," said Khamenei, whose powers exceed those of the elected president, Hassan Rouhani.
A still from a video shared on social media of people protesting in Tehran.
Social Media / Reuters
Rouhani had called on security forces to exercise restraint. But reports of violence were escalating. State radio channel reported that six "rioters" were killed by police after they attempted "to seize the police armory" of Qahdarijan, in Esfahan province, overnight. Three police officers were also injured in the violence, the agency reported. Three officers were reported to have been wounded, and one man died, in a burst of shooting in Najafabad, near Isfahan.
A member of the Revolutionary Guard was also fatally injured in Kahrizsang, according to state media.
In comments on Sunday and Monday, Rouhani had promised to address people's concerns about the economy and lack of freedoms, defending the right to peaceful protest. But on the ground, security forces implemented a vast crackdown, with photos showing anti-riot vehicles equipped with water cannons making their way into cities, and videos crackling with the sound of tear gas canisters being fired at chaotic protests. Tehran province's deputy governor-general, Ali Asghar Naserbakht, said about 200 people were arrested on Saturday, 150 on Sunday and 100 on Monday.
Hundreds more people have reportedly been arrested in other cities across Iran after protests broke out in Mashhad on Thursday, according to state news agencies and social media postings.
While the original protests appeared to be centered on the country's dire economic problems, in the past five days the tone of the demonstrations has shifted, with people calling for regime change in what some commentators are characterizing as the most serious threat to Iran's leadership in a decade.
Many of those protesting appear young and unconnected to the educated, politically connected middle-class who poured into the streets to challenge the reelection of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009. Deputy Interior Minister Hossein Zolfaghari said 90% of those detained in Tehran were under 25.
While a debate rages in Washington over how much or how little the US should do to support the protesters, Iranian officials have demanded the US stay out of it. Prior to Trump's latest tweet, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bahram Qassemi condemned the US president's previous "absurd and insulting" comments.
"He should pay attention to domestic affairs and issues in his own country ... instead of writing absurd and insulting tweets about other nations and countries," Qassemi was quoted as saying by the semiofficial ISNA news agency.
Tweeting about Iran last week, Trump again blamed his predecessor, Barack Obama, for botching the country's relationship with Iran, referencing the nuclear deal, and warning that the US would be looking for any human rights violations.