By Philip Fabian
In Iran, people are taking to the streets to fight against the oppressive mullahs’ regime. This reacts with merciless police violence (with multiple deaths) and tough censorship – Internet shutdown!
People around the world are showing solidarity with the courageous Iranian protesters – and the richest person in the world is giving them concrete help: Tesla boss and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk! He will activate his Starlink satellite broadband service to the people of Iran.
This means that the Iranians will soon be able to access the Internet from space – without the mullahs being able to switch it off.
At least that’s the plan. Whether Musk needs a special permit is still unclear.
Musk announced his Iran initiative – where else? – on Twitter with the mere words: “Starlink is activated…”. A comment on a tweet by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who wrote that the US had taken measures to improve free access to the internet in Iran and allow the free flow of information.
Protests in Iran continue
For the past week, Islamist-ruled Iran has experienced a rare wave of protests in response to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She died in custody – probably under the influence of violence – after the Iranian moral police had arrested her: because she was not wearing her headscarf “properly” and her hair was showing.
Videos of the protests are circulating on the Internet, showing, among other things, how citizens are fleeing members of the notorious Basiji militia.
Worldwide solidarity with Mahsa Amini
People around the world are showing solidarity with the uprising in Iran and are demanding the removal of the cruel Iranian mullah regime – people took to the streets in Berlin, Washington, London, Rome, Brussels, Stockholm, Oslo, Lisbon and Santiago de Chile, among others, on Saturday.
Iranian authorities are not saying how many people have died since the protests began
The authorities in Iran are currently not providing any new information about the number of people killed in the protests that have been going on for days. The official reason given by Interior Minister Ahmad Wahidi: There is still no precise information on the number of victims in the demonstrations of the past seven days. However, he confirmed that there were deaths among the demonstrators as well as among the police and security forces.
According to the minister, some people attempting to enter “high security facilities” were shot dead by security officers.
Iran last confirmed 17 to 20 dead two days ago. Iran’s state television broadcaster IRIB reported 35 dead but added that this number was unofficial and not yet confirmed. According to the human rights organization Iran Human Rights, at least 50 people died.
According to the local police chief, more than 700 people were arrested.