Eye on Iran's Protests - January 3, 2023

The Iranian people continue gathering in large numbers to protest and commemorate the regime’s victims.

Massive crowds gathered to remember Ali Abbasi in Semirom, Isfahan, 40 days after the Islamic Republic murdered him. The thronging mourners chanted “Death to Khamenei!”

The Farda Briefing: Iran Cracks Down On Independent Lawyers Amid Protests | Radio Free Europe

Iran has arrested at least 44 independent lawyers since ongoing antiestablishment protests erupted in September. They include lawyers who have represented protesters arrested in the violent state crackdown on the demonstrations. Activists say that by jailing independent lawyers, Iran is denying political detainees the right to a fair trial. Many of those arrested and charged in the ongoing crackdown on the protests have relied on state-appointed lawyers who have reportedly done little to defend them. In some cases, the lawyers have reportedly testified against their clients.
 

A Revolutionary Court in Iran sentenced dissident illustrator and author Mehdi Bahman to death, reportedly on the charge of "espionage." He is known for his efforts to promote religious coexistence.

Huge crowds of protesters took to the street in Zahedan, chanting “Death to Khamenei!”

Iran Police Detain Top-Tier Football Players In Raid At Party | Reuters

Iranian police briefly detained several unidentified top-tier football players in a raid on a party on New Year's Eve where alcohol was served in violation of an Islamic ban, Iranian media reported. Mingling between sexes outside marriage and drinking alcohol is banned under Iran's Islamic laws. Social restrictions are among issues that prompted mass unrest in recent months, following the death in custody of a woman accused of violating the strict dress code.

Unarmed protesters ran from security forces firing live ammunition at them.

Will Iran's Protest Movement Survive? | Radio Free Europe 

Ali Fathollah-Nejad, an Iran expert with the American University of Beirut, says the country appears to be engulfed in "a revolutionary process" that started with protests in 2017-18 over economic grievances that quickly turned political. During the current protests, Iranians have demanded an end to the Islamic republic and targeted their anger at the most visible symbols of the clerical regime, including the mandatory head scarf for women and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

A burial ceremony drew large crowds in Javanroud, underscoring the fact that regime killings beget anti-regime protests.

Protesters lit a Qassem Soleimani statue on fire, further showing that the former Quds Force commander—assassinated on this day three years ago—is not the revered figure to all Iranians that the Iranian media and state officials often portray him as.

Iran Upholds Death Sentences For Teenage Protesters | Bloomberg

Iran’s judiciary upheld death sentences for two male teenagers who had taken part in anti-government protests that have gripped the country since September. If the executions are carried out, they will be the youngest people put to death since unrest erupted over Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in police custody in Tehran after being detained for allegedly flouting Islamic dress codes.

Iranians burned a billboard of Qassem Soleimani.

Iranian regime suppression forces detained an entire family in Javanroud.