Nationwide Protests in Iran Continue on Day Sixteen

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.

Nationwide Protests in Iran Continues on Day Nine

On September 25, the nationwide protests continued nine days after the death of Mahsa Amini. Demonstrations continued in at least 19 cities and universities, as the number of arrests and the individuals injured or killed increased. There were disruptions and outages in internet and phone services and social media was filtered. 

On September 24,25, 2022, despite the heavy presence of riot police and plainclothes security agents, people held demonstrations in many cities, including Shahin-Shahr, Karaj, Shiraz, Amol, Babol, Sanandaj, Tehran, Fardis, Isfahan, Tabriz, Zahedan, Fuman, Sabzevar, Qaen, Shahr-e-Rey, and Nowshahr. 

The Sharif University of Technology and the University of Tehran students held protests on campus, chanting slogans  such as “Death to the dictator”, “Jailed student should be freed”, and “We will fight, we will die, but we will take back Iran.”

The two maps below show the geographical distribution and concentrations of the protests until the seventh day of protests. 

On September 25, the Coordination Council of the Iranian Teachers Trade Association issued a statement asking teachers and students all over Iran to join the general strike.

 It is estimated that many individuals have been arrested, as 450 arrests were reported only in the city of Sari. However, HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, is still working on fact-checking and reviewing the reports independently. HRANA has identified and verified 48 individuals arrested so far.

There were also reports of several individuals killed as a result of the brutality of the security apparatus. The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported 41 deaths, of which HRANA has identified 38.

The map below shows the distribution of the death toll as of the seventh day of protests.

Below is a compilation of the videos gathered on the eighth and ninth days of protests in Iran.

Report on Protests Following Abadan Building Collapse

In recent days, following the collapse of a building in Abadan in Khuzestan Province which led to the death of 29 people declared so far, hundreds of citizens in Abadan, Ahvaz, Shahin-Shahr, Shahr-e-Rey, Andimeshk and Khorramshahr demonstrated against the government, more specifically on the issues related to corruption, low safety standards, and mismanagement. People protested against authorities and influential individuals whose corruption, incompetency and failure to impose safety standards on the construction contributed to the disaster. They also blamed shortcomings in rescue operations and equipment for such a high death toll.

Metropol Collapse

So far, a number of protestors have been arrested. Anti-riot forces have been present on the scene, turning peaceful protests into a violent showdown.

On Monday, May 23, 2022, 10-story building which was under construction known as Metropol collapsed in the city of Abadan in Khuzestan Province. Dozens of people were killed, injured or trapped in the rubble. The experts of the Abadan Engineering Organization had already warned about the safety deficiencies and announced that for these safety issues, the building should not be inaugurated. Nonetheless, the construction continued.

Although the causes of the collapse have not been investigated yet, many argue that the lack of construction oversight by the municipal officials who are themselves the shareholders of this project led to this disaster.

Moreover, the government’s failure to provide adequate emergency response and proper rescue equipment caused anger and criticism toward the officials. According to some victims’ families and protestors, the officials’ failure to provide the required equipment hindered the debris removal operation, which led to the death of more people who were trapped under rubble. Moreover, the government did not cancel a state-run celebration in a sports stadium, which further angered the populace.

Protests

Initially, people gathered for mourning after the building collapse which turned into the marching in streets and spread to additional cities. In Abadan, Ahvaz, Shahin-Shahr, Shahr Ray, Andimeshk and Khorramshahr, people marched and chanted slogans against the Iranian regime.

On Friday, the protests turned violent in some cities as the police attempted to scatter the crowds with tear gas and pellet guns. Many protestors were beaten in Ahvaz and Shahin-Shahr .

The protests continued on Saturday and Sunday. In Andimeshk, Abadan, Shahr-e-Rey, and Dezful, people marched and chanted “death to the dictator”, “the clerics must go away”, and other anti-regime slogans.

On Sunday, officials in Abadan attempted to hold a supervised mourning gathering. According to reports of eye-witnesses obtained by HRANA, during the gathering, people began to chant anti-regime slogans, did not allow the assigned cleric to finish sermons, and left to march in the streets.

The map below shows the geographical distribution of protests:

On Friday, Netblocks, a watchdog organization that monitors global access to the internet reported disruption on the internet in Iran. Some local sources have also reported the internet and phone disruption to HRANA. These reports were in Abadan, Ahvaz and Khorramshahr.

Arrests

Dozens of people have been arrested during these protests. So far, HRANA has identified four individuals who were arrested as Ali Fartoosi, Aghil Amoori, Mohammad Fartoosi, and Hamid Fartoosi. These individuals were arrested and transferred to an unidentified location. Also, on Thursday, Karim Aldninawi, an Arab poet and resident of Shush City, was arrested following his criticism of the government in a video post on social media.

The following video is a compilation of 44 verified video reports on current protests.