Eye on Iran's Protests - June 8, 2023

Adding to the death toll of over 500, the death of a bruised and battered 21-year-old engineering student, after being released from state custody, catalyzed protests in Abdanan. Horrific accounts of the regime’s ongoing abuses, including sexual assault and other forms of torture, and the use of live fire against street protesters emerged on social media.

The below map shows the locations of protests over the past week.

 

Protesters were injured in Abdanan after security forces fired on them. They were protesting the death of Bamshad Soleimankhani, a 21-year-old engineering student and social media activist who was hospitalized the night of his release from custody, with broken bones and bruises. He died a week later.

 

Shock troops in full riot gear deployed to Abdanan.

Iran Forces Fire on Protest Over Student's Death: Activists | AFP 

Iranian security forces opened fire on a protest sparked by the death of a student recently released from custody, rights groups and monitors said Friday, with several people reported wounded. The protests erupted late Thursday in the town of Abdanan, in the Kurdish-populated western province of Ilam, prompted by the death late last month of Bamshad Soleimankhani, 21, just days after his release from prison. The Norway-based Hengaw group published images reported to be of protesters showing wounds from birdshot pellets, along with footage showing people in the streets with gunshots audible.

 

Protesters stormed the streets of Zahedan for the 35th consecutive anti-establishment Friday demonstration.

 

Amnesty International is calling for the release of an Iranian man who has spent over 1,000 days in solitary confinement in jail. Vahid Afkari, 37, was convicted, along with his two brothers, of murdering a security officer during protests over the cost of living five years ago.

 

Mohsen Shekari was a protester who was arrested during the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom nationwide movement and later executed following a death sentence for alleged enmity against God. His gravestone was maliciously vandalized and shattered.

 

"I felt so embarrassed. With my hands, I tried to cover the private parts of my body," recalled women's rights activist Mojgan Keshavarz after being strip-searched and assaulted by Islamic Republic forces.

 

Following a 72-day hunger strike that led to his hospitalization, Vahid Beheshti continues to lead a sit-in opposite the U.K.’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, calling on the U.K. to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organization.

 

Opposition leader Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the oldest son of the last Shah of Iran, spoke before a gathering of people at the Jerusalem Post conference in New York, saying, “The Iranian people seek peaceful, productive relations with the people of Israel.”

 

In front of the Azadi Tower, two women kissed, a direct affront to the homophobic regime.

 

Toronto’s Iranian community gathered in solidarity with the Women, Life, Freedom Revolution.

 

A teenaged protester who had been sentenced to death in Iran has reportedly been severely beaten in prison, suffering a fracture in the head.

 

A 9-year-old boy was killed when state agents opened fire on a passenger vehicle in the Iranian city of Izeh, Khuzestan province, on Nov. 16, 2022.

 

As the Islamic Republic mourned the anniversary of Khomeini’s death, girls in Iran danced in public without the mandatory hijab.

 

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, claimed on Twitter that “Western think tanks” and security services were key architects of the nationwide protests that were sparked last September by the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.

 

Amid reported progress in nuclear talks with the Islamic Republic, activists gathered in front of the U.S. Department of State to demand an end to negotiations.

 

In Iranian security officer, Mansoureh Sagvand, who quit her job in protest at Iran's regime’s massive crackdown on protesters, died in mysterious circumstances, prompting thousands to attend her funeral in a show of support.

 

A 21-year-old gay man said he was sexually assaulted by security forces after his arrest during protests. Rights groups say the Islamic Republic has been systematically weaponizing rape and sexual abuse.

 

Regime forces allegedly desecrated the grave of 30-year-old Majid Kazemi, who was executed for his role in the anti-regime protests.

 

Iranian youth dissidents burned a banner of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini.

 

This year’s Sydney Peace Prize was awarded to Iranian activist and actress Nazanin Boniadi.

 

The regime moved military vehicles into Kurdistan province.

 

Prisoners described dehumanizing treatment and torture in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison.