Eye on Iran's Protests - December 28, 2022

After one hundred days of protests in Iran, the Islamic Republic killed over five hundred Iranians, including sixty-nine children. This news round-up intends to amplify the voices of dissent and opposition against the Islamic Republic of Iran. UANI has created a database of the regime officials and institutions most responsible for the ongoing brutal crackdown against the Iranian people. To view this list of grave human rights abusers who should be sanctioned now, click here.

On The Streets And On Rooftops, Anti-Government Protests Continue Across Iran | Radio Free Europe

Iranian protesters took to the streets in various Iranian cities yesterday, continuing their anti-government protests. In Dashti, a city in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan, people took to the streets after marking 40 days since the death of 35-year-old protester Hamed Mollaei, chanting anti-government slogans such as, "We don't want a child-murdering government."

IRGC forces deployed with heavy weapons around the cemetery where mourners were gathering to mark the 40th day since the death of Hiwa Jan Jan.

An Iranian chess player competed in an international chess tournament without her hijab two days in a row.

Chief Prosecutor Threatens Legal Action Against Women Who Do Not Follow Iran's Head Scarf Law | Radio Free Europe

Iran's chief prosecutor has warned women who have rejected wearing a hijab to follow the country's mandatory head scarf law "for their own safety and health." Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said Sharia law and the laws of the Islamic Republic have made the head scarf mandatory for women and added, "we cannot say that the hijab is a personal matter." Note: Mohammad Montazeri has been sanctioned by the U.S. and Canada under human rights authorities, but not the U.K. or the E.U.

Iranian Government Relies On Loyal Supporters As Bulwark Against Protests | Wall Street Journal 

About one in five Iranians say they support the current system, according to polls carried out in Iran by the Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran, a nonprofit research foundation in the Netherlands. Of those, one in five tend to be hard-core loyalists, such as the 700,000 members of the Basij, a volunteer paramilitary organization that the regime relies on to violently suppress the protest movement. Amnesty International has documented Iran’s use of live ammunition, birdshot, metal pellets, tear gas, and water cannons.

Britain Urges Iran To Stop “Unfairly Detaining” Dual Nationals | Reuters 

Britain urged Iran to stop detaining dual nationals following the arrest of seven people with links to the United Kingdom, saying the practice should not be used to obtain "diplomatic leverage." This is not the first time a European government “urged” Iran to cease its malign behavior to no avail. And at the same time, Iran’s supreme leader has a representative office in the U.K. Italy issued statements to the same effect, urging an end to the persecution of protesters and the opening of dialogue.

Dozens Of Iran Protesters Facing Charges Punishable By Death – Rights Group | Agence France-Presse 

An Oslo-based human rights organization said at least 100 Iranians arrested during the protests face charges punishable by death. Many of them had limited access to legal representation. Two twenty-three-year-old protesters—Majidreza Rahnavard and Mohsen Shekari—have already been executed after what Amnesty International called “sham trials.” Rahnavard was hanged in public from a crane. A U.S.-based human rights organization reported an 88% increase in executions in 2022 compared to 2021.

A Moral Leader Emerges For Iranian Protesters Outside Iran | Washington Post 

Hamed Esmaeilion is viewed as a moral leader by many Iranians in the diaspora community and living inside Iran. His efforts to redress the death of his family members, along with the 174 other passengers killed on a Ukraine-bound airliner in January 2020 after it was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, provide a model for other Iranians seeking justice for the abuses they or their family members have suffered at the hands of the regime. He uses international legal mechanisms to pursue justice for those victims, including filing a lawsuit with the International Criminal Court.