Protests Spread to at least 20 Cities in Iran 

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, in recent days, triggered by soaring food prices, protests sparked in at least 20 cities in Iran. Protests took place in Dezful, Shahrekord, Andimeshk, Izeh, Junaqan, Khorramabad, Fashafouyeh, Farsan, Borujerd, Dehdasht, Dorud, Ardabil, Neyshabur, Suq, Rasht, Ahvaz, Yazd, Shadegan, Susangerd, and Yasuj. On Sunday, May 15, 2022, despite the tightening of security measures, the protest continued in several cities.

From the outset, the regime disrupted internet services in several cities in an attempt to prevent the protests.

On Friday, May 6, 2022, following the call on social media for rallying against soaring bread prices, in some cities in Khuzestan Province, the Iranian regime tightened security measures on the streets and disrupted internet and phone services to disrupt protests. Nonetheless, the day after, protests broke out in various cities of Khuzestan Province and beyond. Since then, the protests have continued in more than 20 cities. In most cases, protests turned violent by the police and security forces who used tear gas, warning shots, and pellet guns to scatter the crowds.

During the unrest, dozens of people were arrested. HRANA has obtained the identity of 20 of the individuals who were arrested in Ahvaz, 13 in Susangerd, 7 in Suq, and five in Shawr.

The regime forces have killed at least two protestors during the unrest, of which, one death has been confirmed by the city of Shahrekord’s representative in Iran’s Majles (parliament).

HRANA Recap: This Week’s Protests in Iran

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, a number of protests took place this week in Iran, many of which were continuations of ongoing movements.  Read our recap below for details, photos, and videos from the demonstrations.

Saturday, October 23

A group of contracted teachers and educators from the counties of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province assembled in front of the government building in Shahrekord to protest this year layoffs.

“126 teachers have been fired this academic year,” one protestor stated at the demonstration. “These layoffs happened only to the educators of this province. The teachers with the same conditions, all over the county, continue their work.”, he added.

Sunday, October 24

Workers for a heap leaching project at the copper mine Sungun Varzaghan assembled and protested their unpaid benefits this Sunday. 

Monday, October 25

In various cities across the country, judiciary personnel assembled in front of their local justice buildings and protested worsening job conditions and the failure of authorities to address their demands.

These protests were held in Tehran, Zanjan, Hamedan, Qom, Arak, Babol, Borujerd, Chaedgan, Firuzabad, Kerman, Khandab, Kuhrang, Meybod, Lenjan, Sari, Mehr, Nahavand, Urmia, Paveh, Rumeshkan, Semirom, Shahrekord, Shirvan,Shut, Taft, Razan, Eslamshahr, and Tuyserkan.

A group of patients with the blood disorder thalassemia assembled in front of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education building in Tehran. They protested the shortage of medicine and the institution’s shortcomings in addressing their issues.

A number of retirees on the pension fund of steel corporation Fulad traveled from various cities to Tehran and assembled in front of the pension fund building. As a symbolic act, they spread tablecloths without any food to show they hardly afford living costs. They asked for a pension above the poverty line, free medical treatment and closing the gap in pension incomes. They claimed that Fulad’s pension fund has breached regulations.

A group of teachers and educators in Rafsanjan City who has passed the recruitment exam taken by the Ministry of Education assembled in front of the building of this ministry in Rafsanjan.

“We are 62 teachers and all have been passed the recruitment exam, nonetheless, we have not been recruited,” one of the teachers commented. He added,  “Given that the Ministry of Education needed more than 200 teachers and there are a lot of local labour forces to be hired, why do they recruit from other cities?”

A number of athletes and paralympic medalists assembled in front of the government building in Damghan City. They protested the mismanagement of the county Ministry of Sport and Youth, as well as a shortage of sports facilities. According to these protestors, the sport salon allocated to them is often closed and each time they have to wait three hours for using the salon.

Bus and minibus drivers working in the transportation service of Southern Pars (Asaluyeh and Bandar-e Kangan) assembled outside the premises of the refineries. They protested against low wages in comparison to increasing transportation costs.

“Our wage is lower in comparison to the vehicle depreciation costs,” one protestor said, “and even though it is not enough, they delay payment.”

A number of young job seekers in Shushtar city assembled in front of the Karun Agro-industry Complex. They asked for recruitment of local job seekers in this industry complex. They find it unfair that, despite having several big corporation in this city, many skilled and educated workers remain jobless.

Some personnel of the Real Estate Registration Organization of Iran assembled and protested in front of the office of a member of the parliament in Qazvin.

A group of market workers in the border village Sheykh Salleh assembled to protest against the assigning  of border affairs to a non-native company.

Tuesday, October 26

A number of workers of Omidiyeh Water and Wastewater Company assembled in front of the government building of this city.

These workers said that despite promises from supervisors, they have four-month unpaid wages. Moreover, the end of year bonuses and three years end of service benefits have not been paid. They have protested several times in the past, but every time, they have not received an adequate response from authorities.

The retirees of Imam Khomeini hospital in Karaj assembled in front of this hospital to promote their demands on Tuesday.

For the second day, the retirees of the pension fund of the steel corporation Fulad assembled in front of the pension fund building in Tehran.

A group of retirees and working personnel of airline company Homa assembled in front of the building of Iran Ministry of Roads & Urban Development. They asked for fair and timely wages. According to these protestors, not only is the pension insignificant, but also there have been significant payment delays.

A number of farmers from eastern Isfahan assembled in front of the building of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad. They protested not receiving their water shares and rights.

Workers of contractor companies delivering services like gardening, maintenance and transport for Pars Oil and Gas Company assembled in Asaluyeh to demand increased wages, supplementary insurance, and implementation of the Job Classification plan.

In Isfahan and Yazd Provinces, a number of people with hearing impairment assembled in front of the buildings of the State Welfare Organization of Iran. They cited livelihood problems, including denial of right to housing and insurance, as the reasons for their protest.

Wednesday, October 27

For the third consecutive day, a group of workers of Gachsaran Petrochemical Company protested at their workplace and then in front of the government building of Gachsaran.

They said that the contractors discriminates against the native laborers and threatens them to be fired. Reportedly, these contractor companies have raised the wage of non-native labor but not the native ones.

Some personnel of the Azad University, unit “Yadegare Imam” in Shahr-e-Rey city assembled and protested at the university premises to protest ongoing mismanagement. Reportedly, this protest turned somewhat violent.

A number of people who have lost their money in their accounts with Cryptoland, a cryptocurrency exchange, protested in front of the Tehran Courthouse. They demanded that legal processing return their losses.

A number of disabled war veterans assembled in front of the building of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs in Tehran. They protested poor living conditions and the non-implementation of some protective laws

Thursday, October 28

A number of workers of Khorramshahr municipality assembled in front of the building of the municipality to protest against a six-month delay in payment and other demands.

In Isfahan, a number of people with hearing loss assembled in front of the buildings of the State Welfare Organization of Iran.

A number of workers of the Kut-Abdollah municipality protested in front of the Governorate building of Khuzestan Province. They asked for the payment of their delayed wages.

Three Days of Iran Protests Over Fuel Price Raise

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.

Video reports of the first day protests:

Video reports of the second-day protests

Video reports of the third day of protests:

Strengthening security in Sharekord university by Installing new cameras

HRANA News Agency – Shahrekord University officials have tried to install cameras for controlling the space of university.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), On the other hand by installing the control gate entry and exclusion of students, the university Security Increased. Meanwhile, In recent years students did not need student card to enter the university.

According to one of the student activists of the university, The presence of security guards to check Hijab of students have been highlighted. It is worth noting that in the new school year many girls students because of inappropriate dress ( HIJAB ), and several boy students because of smoking has been banned from having a student dormitory.

Students Protest in Shahrekord University

HRANA News Agency – On Tuesday, October 4, 2011, students at Shahrekord University demonstrated against the quality and price of food available at the university’s self-service cafeteria.The protest was sparked by the news of a worm having been found in school cafeteria food.Iran’s semi-secret police tasked to monitor all educational institutes, Herasat, violently confronted student protestors and eventually quelled the demonstration.Shahrekord University is located in southwestern part of Iran in Chahrmahal and Bakhtiari Province.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), as the new school year began in Iran, an increase in the cost of food available at Shahrekord University had caused discontent and anger amongst students.Following a report indicating that a warm was found in school cafeteria food, students began to gather demanding better food at reasonable prices.

In an interview with HRANA, one of the demonstrators said, “The majority of students are experiencing financial problems, and when the cost of food went up at the beginning of the new school year, students were very unhappy.What happened yesterday was only a spark among students who were already dissatisfied with the situation.”

During these demonstrations, students demanded school cafeteria officials to be reprimanded and a guild council to be formed again in Shahrekord University.Some of the slogans shouted by the protestors were:

Students die but accept no misery!
Chivalrous students, Support, Support!
Have no fear; have no fear; we’re all united!

Yesterday’s demonstrations lasted an hour during which students were violently confronted by Herasat agents.

 

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