Protests continue in Iran despite threats from Revolutionary Guards Three injured in gunshots outside fast food restaurant – wanted

In Iran, protests have entered a new round in many cities, despite a massive threat from the Revolutionary Guards. According to eyewitness reports, the security forces again used violence over the weekend. In Germany and other European countries, many people took to the streets again in solidarity with the demonstrators in Iran. The protests against the authoritarian leadership of the Islamic country have now lasted more than six weeks.

On Saturday, the commander of the influential Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hussein Salami, demanded an end to the demonstrations in a speech. “The protesters should not overload the patience of the system,” the general warned, according to a report by state news agency IRNA. “Today is the last day of the riots. Don’t go out on the streets anymore.” No one will allow the protesters to continue to create insecurity and turn the country’s universities into a “battlefield”.

Nevertheless, students in the capital Tehran, the pilgrimage city of Mashhad in the northeast and other parts of the country continue their protests. Security forces used violence against hundreds of students at a campus in Mashhad, eyewitnesses said. Police in Tehran allegedly used tear gas. Also in many other cities there were protests against the course of the government and Islamic rule.

The reason for the demonstrations was the death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini in mid-September. The vice squad arrested her for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code. The young woman subsequently died in police custody. At least 250 people have been killed and more than 10,000 arrested in Iran since then, according to human rights groups.

At the start of the seventh week of protests, Tehran picked up the pace again. Observers saw IRGC commander Salami’s speech as a final warning to end the protests. It is feared that the military and Revolutionary Guards will soon be deployed against protesters. In Germany, thousands again demonstrated this weekend in cities such as Cologne, Berlin and Düsseldorf.

The internet, meanwhile, remains limited in Iran. Many social networks have been blocked to make collusion between protesters more difficult. The leadership in Tehran blames the country’s “enemies” – especially the US and Israel – for the unrest. Citizens’ demands for more freedom have so far been labeled a foreign conspiracy – and ignored.

But even critical voices in the country express doubts about this representation. For example, the Iranian daily Shargh rejected accusations of espionage against its imprisoned reporter Nilufar Hamedi. Editor-in-chief Mehdi Rahmanian emphasized that the journalist was only doing her job when reporting after Mahsa Amini’s death.

An intelligence report on Friday accused Hamedi and her colleague Elaheh Mohammadi of having been trained by and collaborating with a US “state mafia” and the CIA. Their reports were used abroad to stir up unrest. Hamedi had made Aminis’ case public in Iran. She is now in the infamous Ewin Prison in the capital Tehran.

According to a law, Iran’s security forces should be paid more. Parliament approved a 20 percent pay increase in Tehran on Sunday, Irna reported. This is justified by the fact that the wages of the security forces should be better compared to civilian workers of the state. (aeg/sda/dpa)