Riot police have fired on thousands of people in the Iranian city of Saqez as they bid farewell to Mahsa Amini, the woman who died last month in a police station in Tehran. On Wednesday, the traditional 40-day period of mourning in Islam, which usually ends with a gathering of family and friends.
A procession of ten thousand people, according to pro-government media, marched on Wednesday to the cemetery 8 kilometers outside Saqez, a Kurdish city on the border with Iraq, where Amini is buried. They turned the commemoration into another protest of the kind that has been happening daily in many places in Iran since the death of the 22-year-old woman.
This led to a confrontation with the police. The Norwegian-based Kurdish organization Hengaw reported that tear gas had been fired against the demonstrators and that shots had been fired in Zindan Square in the city. The AP news agency also heard from eyewitnesses that shooting had taken place. According to the official Irna news agency, the police fired hail. Nothing is known about any victims. According to Irna, protesters who tried to attack the governor’s office were chased away.
Again slogans such as ‘Death to the dictator’ and ‘Woman, life, freedom’ were heard. Video footage shows that some of the protesters had managed to get through to the cemetery, which was defended by riot police and members of the violent Basij militia. Women took off their headscarves and waved them over their heads.
Schools and universities closed
The local internet was shut down by the authorities ‘for security reasons’. State media reported that schools and universities in northwestern Iran were closing in order to “stop the spread of the flu”. Students and high school students joined the protest movement en masse in early October, after the end of the summer holidays.
Demonstrations were also held in other Iranian cities. News agency Irna reported on Wednesday evening that a member of the Revolutionary Guard was shot dead by ‘rioters’ in the city of Malayer. The Revolutionary Guard’s elite troops are the main pillar of the Iranian regime. The organization has major interests in the Iranian economy.
In the capital Tehran, the main bazaar was closed largely in solidarity with the demonstrators, the AP reports. The bazaar’s small and medium-sized businesses are a vital part of Iran’s economy. During the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the attitude of the traders was decisive in the collapse of the Shah’s regime.
Protesters in the labyrinth of streets in the bazaar clapped and shouted ‘Freedom, freedom, freedom’ and slogans at Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader. Garbage cans were set on fire in other parts of the city. Police fired rubber bullets at protesters and people filming from windows and rooftops.
Killing in Shiraz
Gunmen attacked a Shia shrine in southern Iran’s city of Shiraz on Wednesday. According to news agency Irna, at least 15 people were killed, including women and children. The attackers were in a car and shot at visitors and staff members at the entrance to Shah Cheragh shrine.
Irna described the perpetrators as “takfiri terrorists’, a common name in Iran for members of radical Sunni groups. Two of the three perpetrators have been arrested, it was reported. As far as we know, the attack has nothing to do with the protest movement elsewhere in Iran. That connection was not made by the authorities either.