Iranians have been taking to the streets for weeks. A Shia dignitary is now being shot dead in the city of Sahedan. Demonstrators and security forces clash in Karaj. “We fight, we die, we endure no humiliation,” resounded in the streets.
A senior Islamic dignitary has been killed in one of the hotspots of anti-government protests in Iran. The Irna news agency reported that the spiritual head of a Shiite mosque was shot dead in the city of Sahedan. “A special unit was set up to identify and arrest the perpetrators,” said Sistan-Balochistan province police commander Ahmad Tahern.
One of the most serious clashes between security forces and demonstrators in recent weeks has taken place in Sahedan. According to Amnesty International, security forces killed at least 66 people there on September 30. Sahedan is dominated by Sunnis, but in Iran Shiites make up the overwhelming majority of the population. A high-ranking Sunni cleric had criticized the crackdown on demonstrators, saying that state officials and Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would have to answer before God.
Demonstrators and security forces also clashed in the city of Karaj, west of the capital Tehran, eyewitnesses reported. There were reports of casualties on both sides. Crowds flocked to the streets – mostly women. Cries like “we fight, we die, we don’t endure any humiliation” could be heard again and again, as the witnesses reported. Security forces are said to have shot at the demonstrators and used tear gas. Some fought back.
The reason for the protests this Thursday was the end of the forty-day mourning period after the death of the young Iranian Hadis Najafi. The Kurd died in police custody on September 16. The so-called morality police had arrested her because she was said to have been dressed inappropriately. Najafi is now one of the symbolic figures of the protests.
“When you see how the family suffers from the death of their daughter, you get angry,” said an eyewitness on the sidelines of the demonstration. A suspected attack on a clergyman caused a stir. Tasnim news agency reported that a cleric was attacked and wounded during the protests. A picture on social media is said to show the injured cleric in the back seat of a car.
Mass protests have been going on in Iran for more than six weeks. According to human rights activists, more than 280 people have been killed since then and more than 14,000 arrested. The protests have since grown into the greatest challenge to spiritual leadership since 1979. At that time, in the course of the Islamic Revolution, the Shah was overthrown and the Islamic Republic was proclaimed.
