Iranians protest on anniversary of lethal 2019 crackdown

Shops shuttered in Tehran’s famed Grand Bazaar

Iranians took to the streets yesterday after organisers of protests over Mahsa Amini’s death called for demonstrations marking three years since a lethal crackdown on unrest sparked by a fuel price hike.

The call to commemorate those slain in the 2019 crackdown is expected to give new momentum to the protests that have roiled Iran for two months since Amini died on September 16 after her arrest for allegedly flouting the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women. Young activists have appealed for people to “conquer” the streets in Ahvaz, Isfahan, Mashhad and Tabriz, among other cities including Tehran.

Women wave headscarves

Shops were shuttered in Tehran’s famed Grand Bazaar and its neighbourhood of Tehranpars, and women were seen waving their headscarves above their heads on the street in the southern city of Shiraz, according to online videos verified by AFP.

Striking steel workers were seen gathering in a car park in the historic city of Isfahan, in videos posted on social media. AFP was unable to immediately verify the images. Workers downed tools and university students boycotted classes in Amini’s home province of Kurdistan, in western Iran, said the Oslo-based Hengaw human rights group.

In the province’s flashpoint city of Sanandaj, protesters were seen burning tyres in a street and chanting anti-government slogans, in other online footage.

“Woman, life, freedom” and “Man, homeland, prosperity,” chanted young male and females students at Islamic Azad University in the northwestern city of Tabriz, in a video published by the 1500tasvir social media channel.