Eye on Iran's Protests - October 17, 2022  

A protest movement is sweeping Iran in the aftermath of the killing of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the so-called “morality police.” UANI’s Eye on Iran's Protests is a daily news and events round-up to increase awareness of this movement and the regime’s brutal response. Now is the time to support the Iranian people. 

Iran Prison Fire Death Toll Grows As Some EU States Call For Sanctions | Reuters
Rights groups report over 240 deaths, including 32 minors, and over 8,000 arrests in 111 cities and towns across Iran. The death toll of the Evin Prison fire rose from four to eight, according to Iran’s judiciary, which also claimed that prisoners started the fire. 

Former President’s Son Suggests Evin Prison Fire Was Intentional | Iran International
An early and extended furlough from Evin Prison for the son of former President of Iran Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani – who is serving a 10-year sentence there – has added to speculation that the fire was intentional. According to another one of Rafsanjani’s sons, the prison typically allowed Mehdi to leave on Wednesday and return to the prison on Friday. In the week before the fire, however, he was sent home a day early and told not to return until Saturday, the day of the fire. 

Iran’s Response to Protests Draws EU Sanctions Targeting Authorities | Wall Street Journal
E.U. foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Luxembourg today to place sanctions on 11 Iranian figures and 4 Iranian entities. The Basij paramilitary group, Iran’s morality police – responsible for killing Mahsa Amini – and Iran’s national police force known as the Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) were among the entities designated. Each of these entities are responsible for violence against protesters. The heads of several branches of the LEF were also designated for their role in the crackdown.  

Iran’s Loyal Security Forces Protect Ruling System That Protesters Want To Topple | New York Times
UANI Policy Director Jason Brodsky pointed out in response to this New York Times article that the deployment of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) unit to Tehran indicates the regime’s level of threat perception. The regime has in the past depended on the Saberin Unit, which is part of the IRGC’s Ground Forces, to deal with unrest in the southeast and northwest of the country. That the regime is calling on it to suppress protests in Tehran also suggests that the national police and the Basij are not getting the job done.  

A high school-aged girl named Asra Panahi was killed by security forces, after her and a group of her fellow students were beaten by security forces at her school in Ardabil for refusing to sing a regime propaganda song. Another schoolgirl has been in a coma ever since.

Large crowds of students at a university in Isfahan demonstrated in opposition to the supreme leader of Iran.

An Iranian regime agent beat up and tasered a defenseless protester on the street.

Iranian officials abused protesters on the street in Ardabil.

Flames engulfed a billboard on the street in Yazd.

A police station in Mashhad was set on fire.

Iranian professional climber Elnaz Rekabi competed without a hijab at the Asian Climbing Competition in Seoul, disobeying the Islamic Republic’s restrictions for female athletes.

High school girls waved their hijabs in the air and chanted “Death to the Dictator.”

A female without the hijab rode on the back of a motorcycle in Tehran.

U.N. Human Rights Council Must Hold A Special Session On Iran | Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the U.N. to hold a special session to establish an independent mechanism to investigate and report on crimes under international law and human rights violations being committed by the Iranian regime against the Iranian people. The proposed U.N. mechanism would also function to hold those responsible for perpetrating violence against peaceful protesters accountable. Several organizations that have signed the HRW petition have gathered evidence showing “a harrowing pattern of Iranian security forces deliberately and unlawfully firing live ammunition and metal pellets, including birdshot, at protesters and bystanders including children.”

Raisi Blames Biden For Inciting "Chaos And Terror" In Iran | Reuters
Two days after President Biden called on Iran to end its violence against protesters pursuing their basic freedoms, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi blamed him for inciting “chaos, terror, and destruction” in Iran.

Iran Threatens Saudi Arabia Over Media Coverage Of Anti-Regime Protests | Iran International
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Hossein Salami threatened consequences against Saudi Arabia if it does not cease its allegedly provocative coverage of youth protesters in Iran.