Iran Leader Says ‘Enemies’ May Target Workers as Protests Rage

Protests raged on at Iranian universities and in some cities on Saturday as Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that the nation’s “enemies” could attempt to mobilize employees after failing to topple the Islamic authorities in additional than two months of unrest.

One of many boldest challenges to Iran’s clerical leaders in many years, the protests have been gaining steam, irritating authorities who’ve blamed Iran’s overseas enemies and their brokers for orchestrating the disturbances.

“Till this hour, thank God, the enemies have been defeated. However the enemies have a brand new trick every single day, and with immediately’s defeat, they might goal completely different courses comparable to employees and ladies,” state tv quoted Khamenei as saying.

Ladies and college college students have performed a distinguished position within the anti-government avenue demonstrations, waving and burning headscarves to denounce Iran’s strict Islamic gown code for girls.

The wave of unrest erupted in September after Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian girl, died within the custody of the nation’s morality police after she was arrested for sporting garments deemed “inappropriate.”

Protests unfold into the important power sector final month, however demonstrations by employees, who’ve partly addressed calls for linked to pay and dealing circumstances, have been restricted.

In 1979, a mixture of mass protests and strikes by oil employees and bazaar retailers helped to comb the clergy to energy in Iran’s Islamic revolution.

Requires ‘Freedom, freedom, freedom’

On Saturday, activist HRANA information company mentioned sit-down strikes and protests have been going down on two dozen campuses within the capital, Tehran, and in main cities together with Isfahan, Tabriz and Shiraz with slogans together with “Freedom, freedom, freedom.”

Kurdish rights group Hengaw posted movies purporting to point out safety forces taking pictures at protesters within the city of Divandarreh, killing one protester. Reuters couldn’t confirm the movies.

The official information company IRNA mentioned protesters broken the house of Divandarreh’s prime state-sanctioned cleric and the workplace of the native parliament member, including that two individuals could have been killed within the violence.

Protests happen throughout nation

Movies posted on social media purported to point out protests in a variety of cities in western, northwestern and central Iran, some throughout funerals held for demonstrators.

Protests additionally reached smaller communities. In Murmuri, a southwestern city of three,500 residents, the native governor instructed IRNA about 150 protesters set hearth to authorities buildings, banks and a put up workplace earlier than safety forces re-established order.

HRANA mentioned 402 protesters had been killed within the unrest as of Friday, together with 58 minors. About 54 members of the safety forces have been additionally killed, it added. Greater than 16,800 individuals have been arrested, it mentioned.

State media mentioned final month that greater than 46 safety forces, together with police, had been killed. Authorities officers haven’t supplied an estimate of any wider loss of life depend.

On Saturday, state tv confirmed 1000’s attending not less than 4 state-sponsored funerals for 3 Basij members, a police colonel, a seminary scholar and a border guard killed throughout latest unrest.

Iran’s hard-line judiciary has sentenced 5 protesters to loss of life and mentioned it’ll placed on trial greater than 2,000 individuals indicted for unrest, intensifying efforts to crush weeks of demonstrations.