At least 12 people were killed in protests and gunfights in various regions of Iran on Wednesday evening, Iranian media reported.
Iran has been rocked by a wave of protests since the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, arrested three days earlier by vice squad for violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.
The chaos of the protests was “exploited by terrorist groups” to carry out an attack in the southern Iran town of Ize, Iran’s state agency IRNA reported.
Gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on people and police in the city’s central market, killing at least seven people and injuring 15.
Three suspects have been detained for alleged involvement in this attack, said Ali Dehqani, head of the justice ministry in Khuzestan province, where Ize is located, according to Tasnim news agency.
In another attack, gunmen on motorcycles fired on security forces in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, killing two basiji (Islamist militiamen) and wounding eight.
In addition, three people died in the town of Semirom, Isfahan province, under unknown circumstances.
Protests have intensified since Tuesday following a call by activists to commemorate 2019 anti-government demonstrations that killed 300 people, according to the non-governmental human rights organization Amnesty International.
Strikes are taking place in several Iranian cities, but it is difficult to know the scope of this movement given the limitations of the internet and the lack of official information.
The protests mainly see young people and women take to the streets shouting “woman, life, freedom”, chanting anti-government slogans and burning veils, one of the symbols of the Islamic Republic.
At least 326 people, including 43 minors, have been killed, according to the Oslo-based non-governmental organization Iran Human Rights.
In addition, five people were sentenced to death for participating in the protests, while about 2,000 were charged with various crimes for demonstrating.
Source: DN
