Exclusive: Khamenei Doctor Sought To Forge Mahsa Amini’s Records

Early reports show anti-government protests resuming Sunday evening, as demonstrators come out after work, and also use the darkness to their advantage.

A video from the Kurdish city of Sanandaj reported clashes in early evening with security forces and gunshots are heard as smoke rises in some areas.

Protests were also reported from Zahedan, in southeastern Iran, one of the poorer regions with a majority Sunni population, but so far no videos have been published.

At least in one district of Tehran, Narmak, protests were taking place, and students in Tehran university were marching and chanting against the government.

The Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations announced a strike for Monday and Wednesday (Tuesday is a public holiday) in support of the protesters. This is the first major call for a strike, although people on social media have been urging workers at key government economic sectors not to show up for work.

Iran Human Rights (IHR) said Saturday at least 54 protesters had been killed by then. In many cases, handing over the bodies of the victims to their families was made contingent on agreeing to secret burials, IHR reported.

Hacktivists sympathizing with protesters have also been at work targeting the websites of the government and its affiliates including the website of the ministry of foreign affairs and MCI, Iran's largest mobile network operator, which is an affiliate of the telecommunications company, and zeroed out all phone bills, in retaliation for shutting down their internet services.

We providee updates below in our live coverage on Sunday. Iran International cannot verify the exact time and location of all videos.

Our coverage for Sunday ended at 01:10, early on Monday.

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Protesters in Esfahan (Isfahan) taking over a key intersection in the city center Sunday evening.

Eyewitnesses say that crowds are dispersed in more locations in different cities, perhaps to reduce chance of an attack by security forces.

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Fierce protests in Qazvin Sunday night, with gunshot heard while it appears the protesters have set a police vehicle on fire.

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The European Union (EU) considered on Sunday “unjustifiable and unacceptable” the “widespread and disproportionate use of force” against protesters in Iran, after nine days of protests over the death of a young woman who was detained by the morality police , and that left 41 dead.

In a statement on behalf of the EU, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, also condemned “the decision of the Iranian authorities to drastically restrict access to the internet and to block instant messaging platforms”, something that, according to him , “constitutes a flagrant violation of freedom of expression”.

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Protests in the northern Tajrish district of Tehran, Sunday evening.

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Protesters in Fardis, a district of the city of Karaj, 20 miles west of Tehran are chanting "Death to Khamenei" Sunday evening.

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A video showing a small crowd of regime supporters at one of their gatherings on Sunday.

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A short video of protests in Shiraz, capital of Fars Province in the south, on Sunday evening.

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Sunday evening protest in the Ekbatan district of Tehran. People chant, "Don't be scared, don't be scared, We are all together here."

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Protest Sunday evening in Sattar Khan district of the capital Tehran. The area has been a hotbed of protests in the past few days.

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Early evening in Sanandaj, western Iran and gunshots are heard against protesters. The pre-dominantly Kurdish city was one of the earliest to satge protests after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody that trggered the unrest in Iran.

In a statement on behalf of the EU, Josep Borrell said that “despite repeated calls for restraint, the response of the Iranian security and police forces to demonstrations has been disproportionate and resulted in the loss of lives as well as a large number of injuries.”

“The EU and its member states urge the Iranian authorities to strictly abide by the principles enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party,” he said, calling on the Islamic Republic “to immediately stop the violent crackdown on protests and ensure internet access, as well as the free flow of information.”

The statement also urged “Iran to clarify the number of deaths and arrested, release all non-violent protestors and provide due process to all detainees.”

The EU also said the killing of Mahsa Amini – whose death in custody of hijab police triggered -- must be duly investigated and any proved responsible for her death must be held accountable.

“The European Union will continue to consider all the options at its disposal ahead of the next Foreign Affairs Council, to address the killing of Mahsa Amini and the way Iranian security forces have responded to the ensuing demonstrations,” read the statement. 

The Wall Street Journal’s journalist Laurence Norman quoted some unnamed diplomats as telling him on Sunday that "There will be EU sanctions on Iran over its crackdown on the protests.”

Speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Sullivan said, “We’re talking about diplomacy to prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon. If we can succeed in that effort, and we are determined to succeed in that effort, the world, America and our allies will be safer.”

“And that will not stop us in any way from pushing back and speaking out on Iran’s brutal repression of its citizens and its women. We can and will do both,” he said in response to a question about whether Iranian mass protests -- triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who died in custody of hijab police -- changes the US’s calculus in nuclear talks with Tehran. 

“The fact that we are in negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program is in no way impacting our willingness and our vehemence in speaking out about what is happening on the streets of Iran.”

He mentioned President Joe Biden’s speech at the UN General Assembly on September 21 who said the US stands “with the brave citizens and the brave women of Iran as they stand for their rights and their dignity.” 

“We have in fact taken tangible steps to sanction those morality police who caused the death of Mahsa Amini,” Sullivan said, referring to the US Treasury Department’s sanctions. “We've taken steps to make it easier for Iranians to be able to get access to the internet and access to communications technologies that will allow them to talk to one another and to talk to the world.”

Enumerating the steps the Biden Administration has taken in response to the death of Mahsa Amini and Iranian protests in another interview, Sullivan said they learned from Obama's response to 2009 protests that sometimes the administration can "overthink" these things, emphasizing that the US will continue speaking out.

Axios cited senior Israeli officials as saying that Israel's deputy director general for Eurasia Simona Halperin visited Kyiv with the Israeli ambassador on September 7 to establish a “dialogue channel” with Ukraine about Middle East issues in order to share information and intelligence and coordinate positions. 

According to the unnamed officials, the Israelis held a meeting with Maksym Subkh, Ukraine's special representative for the Middle East, in which he stressed that Ukraine is opposed to the lifting of sanctions on Iran if a nuclear deal is signed, saying it will enable greater military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow.

Subkh also told the Israeli diplomats that Ukraine expects Israel to take a much clearer position regarding the Russian aggression and unequivocally support Ukraine, which Israel has avoided because of their own relations with Russia.

"The Israelis gave us some intelligence, but we need much more," a senior Ukrainian official confirmed, saying that Halperin asked Subkh for intelligence on Iranian involvement in the war. 

Calling it "a collaboration with evil," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that at least eight Iranian-made unmanned aerial (UAVs) vehicles had been shot down so far in the conflict.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned in mid-July that Russia was preparing to acquire military drones from Iran. Later reports indicated a Russian delegation visiting Iran and assessing the potential of Iranian drones in its war in Ukraine.

In a video message published on Sunday, the group announced it has hacked the website of the parliament as part of its ongoing operation against the government of Iran in solidarity with the popular protests triggered by the death in custody of the 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini. 

“Our support for the Iranian protests will continue. As you all know, the government is trying everything to stop you. Don’t give up,” said a distorted voice on the video. “Do not leave the streets. Do not stop the revolution.”

“The Iranian parliament supports the dictator when it should support the people, so we are releasing the personal information of all of them,” the group said. 

On Saturday, the hacking collective took down the website of Iran's state-run Arabic news network Al-Alam, a few days after it attacked the official website of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei amid the nationwide protests in the country. Both the Persian and English versions of Khamenei’s website are still down.

A number of state-run websites in Iran, such as IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency and the news website of the state broadcaster have limited access to their pages from abroad over fears of being attacked by the hacktivist group. 

If Iran government blocks the people from accessing the internet, Anonymous will block the government from accessing the internet, the group has said.