Iranian Actresses, Athletes Unveiling In Public To Support Protests

According to reports, the water supply of the city of Sanandaj, the provincial capital of Iran’s Kordestan province, was shut off as a measure to quash the protests in the city while security forces opened fire at a group of people who were dancing in public in solidarity with the protesters. 

According to Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the drinking water of Sanandaj was completely cut off last night deliberately and under the supervision of the security organizations to put pressure on the protesters.

In many cities across the country, people set fires to billboards and banners of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other iconic figures of the Islamic Republic such as Qasem Soleimani, forcing the security forces to guard them 24/7. 

People in the city of Mahabad, in West Azarbaijan province, kept on with their protests on Thursday. People were out on streets in the city after the body of Fayeq Mam-Qadri, who was shot by security forces died following 25 days in coma. Businesspeople in the city also held a strike in his honor on Thursday. 

In addition to the closure of shops in Mahabad, employees in 37 South Pars gas platforms have gone on strike to show anger at government mismanagement and unfair wages.

People of Marivan in Kordestan province also held mourning ceremonies for the 40th day since the death of Mokhtar Ahmadi, a 19-year-old boy who was killed by security forces during the protests in the city. The 40th day after one’s death carries immense significance in the Iranian culture.

People in several cities of Sistan and Baluchestan province also continued their protests to mark the 40th day since Bloody Friday in Zahedan on September 30, when security forces killed at least 93 people, and injured many more. Rights group Amnesty International has recorded the names of 100 protesters, including 16 children, killed in the province since 30 September.

Students also continued their protests and sit-ins on Thursday in several campuses across the country. In Mashhad, students booed and stopped the speech of government spokesman Ali Bahadori-Jahromi. Students in Tehran also walked out of their classes and held rallies in support of the protests. 

According to information obtained by Iran International, a gathering was held by people at the grave of Ali Seyyedi, one of the protesters killed on October 26, the 40th day since the death in custody of a Mahsa Amini whose death sparked the protests. 

Spearheaded by Canada-based activist Hamed Esmaeilion, another international protest rally is planned for November 19. Esmaeilion’s daughter and wife were killed when the IRGC shot down a passenger plane in January 2020.

Hannah Neumann said during a parliament session on Thursday said that people of Iran are being brutally suppressed by their own regime “and it is not accepted by us.”

“Protesters are beaten-up, raped and killed in the streets and in prisons, not by criminals but by those who claim to be the government of this wonderful country,” she added.

Speaking during a session she went on to say that out of the 290 members of the Iranian parliament 227 called on the country’s judiciary to severely punish protesters and political prisoners, including with issuing death sentences.

Neumann called on her colleagues in the European Union to send a very strong signal that such moves are not accepted.

She also urged them to impose targeted sanctions against these 227 Iranian lawmakers.

Neumann stated that the EU is right now preparing a sanctions package to be issued by the Foreign Affairs Council next Monday, but “this package has only 31 individuals,” so a debate must be held to include all these Iranian parliamentarians.

A group of 227 parliament members in Iran called on the Judiciary Sunday to issue death sentences for people arrested during the ongoing antigovernment protests.

In a statement that was read out in the Iranian parliament on Sunday, the lawmakers called the protesters ‘Mohareb’ -- which literally means warrior in Arabic, but in Islamic law or sharia it means ‘enemy of God’ that carries the death penalty.

Mohammad Taghi Naghd Ali said the turban-tossing protest movement in recent weeks is a “conspiracy of the devils.”

“Clergymen may bear with it and be patient, but those who play with the lion's tail must be aware they would face the music,” noted the representative of Khomeini Shahr in the Iranian parliament, not elaborating further.

Tossing the turbans of clergymen as they are walking in streets is now part of the current wave of antigovernment protests across Iran, which started as a reaction to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody of hijab police. Younger Iranians tired of government attempts to force them to observe the mandatory Islamic dress code and a restricted lifestyle, began protests and disobedience in mid-September.

The phenomenon has forced many clerics to tie their turbans under their chins or use other head coverings to keep them on their heads as they walk in the streets.

This new addition to the ongoing protests has caused a stir among regime officials and has even made Iraqi Shia cleric and politician Muqtada al-Sadr worried that the trend may spread to his side of the border as a form of protest to Islamic autocracy. He released a statement to condemn the act after many Iraqi young people started to dare their friends on social media to flip some turbans.

In a statement on Thursday, Wong said the Australian government has been “alarmed” by reports that hundreds of people have been killed and many more injured, including dozens of children, as a result of the “heavy-handed” measures Iranian authorities have implemented to crack down on ongoing protests.

She added that Australia supports the right of the Iranian people to protest peacefully and “calls on Iranian authorities to exercise restraint in response to ongoing demonstrations.”

“Iran's human rights record has been a longstanding and serious concern for Australia, and we have repeatedly raised our concerns with Iran in Canberra, Tehran, and multilateral forums,” she went on to say.

She also reiterated that Australia joined Canada and New Zealand in expressing grave concerns about the situation in Iran to the United Nations Security Council, including Iran's position on the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

“Australia stands with Iranian women and girls in their struggle for equality and empowerment, and we will continue to call on Iran to cease its oppression of women. We are committed to promoting gender equality, women's empowerment, and ending violence against women and girls worldwide,” reads her statement.

Earlier, Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese condemned the crackdown by Iranian authorities and urged the Islamic Republic to respect the rights of protesters.

After the recent statements of Javad Shahrestani, Ayatollah Sistani’s son-in-law, who claimed the nationwide protests in Iran “are not popular at all,” in a short statement on Wednesday the Grand Ayatollah stated that “any political stance” by him will be communicated through his office.

Javad Shahrestani, who introduces himself as the representative of Sistani, had called the Iranian protesters “a bunch of rioters,” saying “it is not clear where they came from and what kind of enemy they are guided by.”

These statements are made in a situation that the Iranian state media and insiders repeatedly call the protesters "garbage", "lewd", "jaunty", "flies", "thugs" and "ISIS" in their speeches against the great movement of Iranian people.

In its latest, the commander of the Army's Ground Forces called the demonstrators "flies" in his speech on Wednesday.

In the past four decades, Iran's government has always called popular protests "riots" and by using the term "enemy", it has accused the West, especially the United States and Britain of leading these protests.

Ayatollah Sistani rarely comments on current political issues. However, Moqtada al-Sadr, another influential Shia figure in Iraq, has expressed concern that opposition to the mandatory hijab in Iran may spread to other countries in the region.