Mina Yaghoubi, one of the defendants of a legal case known as “insulting the Martyrs’ cemetery of Arak”, was sentenced to eleven years in prison, 85 lashes and additional punishments.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Mina Yaghoubi was sentenced to imprisonment and flogging.
In a video published on social media, Yaghoubi stated that the Revolutionary Court sentenced her to eight years and prohibited her from residing in the city of residence for two years. Additionally, the Criminal Court sentenced her to three years in prison, 85 lashes and 124 hours of cleaning graves as penal labor.
Without mentioning the charges, she stated that during the past three months, she did not speak out about these verdicts hoping that her lawyer’s objection led to commuting the sentences.
Yaghoubi was arrested and accused of throwing stones toward the Martyrs’ memorial gate of a cemetery in Arak.
At the time of her release from detention, a video of Yaghoubi showed bruises on her eyes after her release, indicating she has been tortured during detention.
On October 1, 2022, despite the heavy presence of riot police and plainclothes security agents, Iranian people held demonstrations in many cities including Mashhad, Rasht, Dehgolan, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tehran, Shahrekord, Shahin Shahr, Arak, Bukan, Babol, Karaj. Moreover, on at least 27 universities campus, the students held protests. These protests continued in Tehran, Isfahan, Bushehr and at least 25 universities on the following day, October 2.
The map below shows the geographical distribution of protests across Iran during the last 48 hours.
In most cases, peaceful student protests turned violent by the police as dozens of students were arrested by the security forces. On the University of Isfahan campus, the security agents or the police fired tear gas at the crowd of protesting students.
Last night, the police and security forces surrounded the Sharif University of Technology, chasing and arresting violently the students who left the campus. The police fired tear gas and pellet guns, leading to several students’ injuries.
According to Iran’s Student Union, several protesting students were trapped in a university building by university security agents and then arrested by the police.
The students chanted slogans such as “Death to the dictator”, “don’t call it protests, it is now a revolution”, and “jailed students should be freed.” They also chanted slogans against the Supreme Leader, Khamenei.
On October 2, in Isfahan and Piranshahr, traders and shopkeepers joined the general strike and closed their shops.
Meanwhile, in recent days, the record-breaking hashtag Mahsa Amini (مهسا_امینی#) reached over 200 million times on Twitter.
Like the previous days, most parts of the country, especially Kurdistan, faced internet and mobile phone disruptions and outages.
Last Friday, September 30, in Zahedan, in Sistan and Baluchistan province, the security forces opened fire at the crowd of protestors coming from the Friday prayer. According to Iranian Sunni cleric Molavi Abdul Hamid, at least 40 people were killed in this incident.
The number of people arrested is increasing day on day. HRANA identified 31 arrests alone for yesterday.
Kurdistan police chief claimed that more than 150 people arrested during the “unrest” have been released.
It is estimated that 30 to 40 students at the Sharif University of Technology were arrested.
Anti-riot police and security forces use live ammunition against the protestors. HRANA has identified 150 death tolls, of which some have been verified by HRANA after fact-checking.
Below is the compilation of the videos from the protests in the past 24 hours.
On Wednesday, August 10, at least 10 protests and one labour strike took place in Iran.
The retirees of Iran Air (The National Airline of Iran) gathered before this Airline pension fund in Tehran to protest against the merger of the fund and the Civil Servants Pension Organization.
The pensioners of the Social Security Organization continued their protest in Khorramabad, Kermanshah, Babol, Rasht, Arak and Kerman. During their rally in Kermanshah, three pensioners were arrested but released after a few hours.
The residents of the village Dariab in Lorestan Province protested against the pollution of their village by the sewage of an industrial town. As a protest, they blocked the road connecting this industrial town to the village.
In Kermanshah, truck drivers went on strike in protest against their poor living conditions, low fares, expensive auto parts and fuel shortage.
On Tuesday, August 9, at least 10 protests took place in Iran.
The pensioners of the Social Security Organization took to the streets again and rallied in Ahvaz, Shush, Arak, Shushtar, Dezful, Tehran and Isfahan. They asked to free imprisoned pensioners and levelling up pensions in accordance with Supreme Labor Council’s enactment.
A number of residents of Bazoft, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, gathered before the district governor’s office to protest against the local authorities’ inattention to address the pollution of drinking water. They hanged bottles of polluted water to the entrance door of the district governor’s office.
The workers of the Aram Pars Company working in the petrochemical industry went on strike in protest against delayed wages.
A number of workers of a contractor company working in Mashhad’s Power Plant gathered before the company entrance to ask for wages.
On Saturday, August 6 and Sunday, August 7, at least 8 protests took place in Iran.
The workers of the Regional Electricity Organization in Hormozgan, Khuzestan and East Azerbaijan Provinces gathered before this organization building in each city. According to these protestors, six months after the beginning of the year, the company has not yet announced how much their salaries will increase.
The pensioners continued their protests in Ardabil, Arak and Ahvaz. They asked to free imprisoned pensioners and levelling up pensions in accordance with Supreme Labor Council’s enactment.
A number of residents of Shadegan, Khuzestan Province, gathered before the Regional Electricity Organization to protest against frequent power blackouts.
On Sunday, August 7, the volunteer firefighters of the NGO Anjoman Sabz Chia gathered before the Governor’s office in Mariwan to protest against the local authorities’ inattention to recent wildfires.
On Saturday, July 31, 2022, a number of pensioners gathered and protested in front of the Social Security Organization in Shush, Karkheh, Ahvaz and Arak. They chanted, “the jailed worker must be released” and “Jailed pensioner must be released.”
The workers of the detergent manufacturing company Darugar gathered before the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour, and Social Welfare to ask for their unpaid wages.
On Sunday, July 17, 2022, at least 10 protests took place in Iran
The Iran telecommunication Company’s staff held protests in Yazd, Bojnurd and Ahvaz. They protested against the non-payment of their benefits for four months. They had held a protest also yesterday.
For the second consecutive day, the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences interns gathered on campus to demand their unpaid wages.
The Social Security Organization’s pensioners again went to the streets and cried out for an increase in pensions in Arak, Ahvaz, Kermanshah and Shush.
A group of transport workers gathered in front of the Ministry of Roads & Urban Development in Tehran to protest against increases in the costs of vehicle registration plates.
On Tuesday, July 12, 2022, at least 18 protests took place in Iran.
The retirees of the Telecommunication Company of Iran held protests in front of the company headquarters in Tehran, Khorramabad, Qazvin, Shiraz, Hamedan, Javanrud, Shahrkurd, Yazd, Urmia, Tabriz, Ahvaz, Rasht, Sari and Arak.
The retirees protested against low and unpaid benefits, delays in payments and not complying with recruitment regulations.
Continuing their protests against low pensions, Iranian pensioners held a protest in front of the Governor-General Building in Shush.
A group of workers of the Tabriz Petrochemical Company gathered in front of the company’s entrance to demand closing disparities in wages and elimination of discrimination.
Protests have erupted across Iran after the government unexpectedly announced it is rationing petrol and increasing its price. The protests took place across the country following the decision of the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, at midnight of November 14, 2019, to cut petrol subsidies to raise funds for social assistance to the poor. Petrol price was increased to a minimum of 15,000 Rials per liter, 50% increase from the day before.
Nationwide protests in the last three days were in at least 48 cities such as: Ahvaz, Shooshtar, Dezful, Gachsaran, Abadan, Khorramshahr, Bandar Mahshahr, Rasht, Shiraz, Bandar Abbas, Gorgan, Khorramabad, Qom, Ilam, Karaj, Sanandaj, Dorud, Qazvin, Arak, Mahdi Shahr, Garmsar, Shahroud, Najafabad, Mariwan, Tehran, Tabriz, Ardabil, Urmia, Saveh, Pasargadae, Qods (Qal’eh Hasan Khan), Varamin, Sari, Yasuj, Qaemshahr, Shahrekord, Malek Shahr, Parand, Damavand, Pol Dokhtar, Neyshabur, Sarepol Zahab, Kahnooj, Yazd, Bandar Bushehr, Bahmai, Shahriar, etc. They are still ongoing in several cities.
Peaceful demonstrations turned violent in Sanandaj, Mahshahr, and Shiraz, with online videos purporting to show police officers firing teargas at protesters and mobs setting fires. Several people were injured or killed in the first three days of protests as a result of the police’s direct shots. On November 17, 2019, students of Tehran University and Tabriz University protested inside the university. Shops at Tehran Grand Bazaar went on strike on November 17, 2019.
The protests started on November 15, 2019, and are still ongoing. The arrest of more than 1000 people across the country was confirmed. More than 150 banks and supermarkets were set on fire and a police officer was killed. Two Hawzas -a seminary where Shi’a Muslim clerics are educated- were set on fire in Shiraz and Kazerun. According to unconfirmed reports, at least 36 people were killed in Sirjan, Shiraz, Behbahan, Marivan, Khoramshahr, Isfahan, and Shahriar.
According to Fars News, protests were held in 100 cities and at least 100 banks and 57 supermarkets were set on fire. Based on this report, the number of protesters were 87400 from which 82200 are men and 5200 women. At least 1000 people were arrested. Yazd prosecutor confirmed the arrest of 40 people in the city of Yazd. Bam Prosecutor also confirmed the arrest of 15 people in the city of Bam. The prosecutor of Robat Karim confirmed the arrest of 34 protesters for vandalism. According to Mohammad Reza Amoui, Kermanshah’s chief of Law Enforcement Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on November 16, Major Iraj Javaheri was killed fighting with protesters in Kermanshah. A journalist resided in Mariwan, Adnan Hasanpour, reported that security forces shot people directly and at least seven people were killed in Javanrud, one person was killed in Sanandaj, and several people were injured. According to unconfirmed reports, 15 of the killed people are identified as following:
Meisam Adgipour, Khaled Maniat, Ali Ghazlavy, Milad Hamidavi, Ali Boghlani, Hamzeh Savari, Mohammad Asafi Zargani, Ehsan Abdollahnejad, Mehdi Nikouei, Osman Naderi, Mehran Tak, Shahou Validi, Javad Nazari Fathabadi, Mehrdad Dashtizadeh, Mohammad Hossein Ghanavati.
Iran has almost completely shut off access to the internet across the country. On November 16, 2019, by the approval of the National Security Supreme Council, the government has completely blocked Internet access in Iran to stymie protests. Due to the internet shut down and the lack of access to freelance reporters and citizen journalists, confirming news about demonstrations and deaths is difficult. It also caused difficulty for Iranian citizens to have access to news agencies websites. On Monday, November 18, schools are closed in 17 cities across Iran:
Shiraz, Kazerun, Alborz, Fereydun, Fereydun Shahr, Farsan, Kuhrang, Laran, Taleqan, Astara, and Najafabad. In addition, universities are closed in Shiraz.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has backed petrol price increases claiming opponents of the Islamic Republic and foreign enemies were guilty of sabotage and not ordinary people. According to Khabar Online, Mojtaba Zonnour, a parliament member representing Qom, is collecting parliament members signatures to impeach Ali Larijani, the head of parliament. He gathered 50 signatures so far. Mohammad Qasim Osmani, a parliament member representing Bukan, filed his resignation and added that he resigned to announce that he was not involved in this decision [raising petrol price]. Today, with respect to Ayatollah Khamenei’s views, the Ministry of Intelligence announced that the protesters will face harsh punishments. Reportedly, people received threatening text messages in Khuzestan and Karaj from the prosecutor’s offices of their province. People were warned about attending protests and not to disturb public order and facilitate the abuse of opposition groups.
