Eye on Iran's Protests - October 7, 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.
As of yesterday, over 400 people had been killed in the protests in Iran, which continue in over 172 cities across the country. Over 10,000 people have been injured, and many more have been detained.
Analysis: Iran Protests Persist, Becoming Threat For Tehran | Associated Press
Stretching into their third week, Iran’s anti-regime protests are becoming more of a threat to the ruling establishment, this article finds. Whether and to what extent this movement will result in regime-change is an open question. Regime security forces have had success at repressing protests in the past by way of violence, but so far in this round of protests, the protesters appear to be undeterred.
Iranian political activist Emad Heidari was killed in the custody of IRGC Intelligence in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz. The IRGC told his family that he died from a heart attack in prison. A coroner that examined Mahsa Amini’s dead body gave a similar explanation for her death.
Iranian State Coroner Says Mahsa Amini Did Not Die From Blows To Body | Reuters
Contrary to what Mahsa Amini’s family has said about her death, state media reported that she did not die from blows to the head and limbs but from organ failure. The police have denied causing her any harm, but her father holds the police responsible for her death, noting that her dead body was bruised.
First, Iran Came For A Rights Activist. Then For His Family And Friends. | Washington Post
Iranian blogger and human rights activist Hossein Ronaghi was arrested and detained. He joins at least 92 other members of civil society that have been arrested in the three weeks since the protests began. He called his mother on the phone and told her that his leg had been broken by regime officials.
Iran Denies Security Forces Killed 16-Year-Old, Says She Fell Off Roof | Reuters
Regime authorities countered the findings of Amnesty International that a 16-year-old female protester named Sarina Emaeiladeh was killed by security forces in a protest. They claimed she had died from jumping off a building to commit suicide. Authorities gave the same explanation for the death of another teenage female protester—16-year-old Nika Shakarami—whom activists claim was also killed at the hands of security forces while she was protesting the death of Mahsa Amini.
Disputing Iran's Version, Mom Says Teen Was Beaten To Death | Associated Press
16-year-old Nika Shakarami’s mother disputed Iranian officials’ claim that her daughter had died from falling from a height. She said that her dead body showed evidence that she was brutally beaten, and that that was the cause of her death. The authorities kept her dead body secret for nine days, and then stole it from her family to bury her in a remote area so as to prevent additional protests. They arrested her uncle and aunt, the latter of which later said on state TV that Nika had fallen to her death. Her public statement was likely a forced confession.
“The gap between the freedoms and opportunities enjoyed by the system’s affiliated elite and those of ordinary Iranians has never been so wide — and never have so many people expressed so much anger about it,” Azadeh Moaveni points out in this New York Times essay.
Protesters in Neyasar torched a billboard of Supreme Leader Al Khamenei.
Biden Juggles Iran Nuke Talks As Iranian Repression Grows | Associated Press
Pressure is growing on the Biden administration to end nuclear negotiations with the embattled Iranian regime. Can the Biden administration “credibly side with the protest movement while also trying to salvage the languishing 2015 Iran nuclear deal that would pump billions into Iran’s treasury?” A new deal would legitimize the Iranian regime as it violently represses its own citizens.
To Support Iranians, Abandon the JCPOA | Seena Saiedian For The National Interest
To support the Iranian people in their pursuit of freedom, the Biden administration should end nuclear negotiations with the regime and reestablish maximum pressure in the likes of Trump administration policy, through economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation.
U.S., Allies To Coordinate Response To Iran's 'Bloody Crackdown' | Reuters
U.S. State Department spokesperson said today that “We [the U.S.] are going to continue to coordinate with our allies and partners and respond to Iran's violent crackdown as well as, frankly, its state-sponsored violence against women."
“Europe must trigger a ‘snapback’ of prior UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on Iran. That step, coupled with additional diplomatic, economic, and military pressure, would frustrate Tehran’s efforts and hasten the demise of the Islamic Republic regime,” Anthony Ruggiero and Andrea Stricker argue in The Hill.
PM Says Government Moving To Block Members Of Iranian Regime, IRGC From Entering Canada | CBC
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said his government is taking measures to permanently ban 10,000 members of the IRGC from entering Canada.
Why Women Are Chopping Their Hair for Iran’s Mahsa Amini | Wall Street Journal
Women around the world are cutting their hair to show their support for female protesters in Iran and raise awareness of the protest movement.
Italian National Is Arrested In Iran | Kayhan Life
30-year-old Italian traveler named Alessia Piperno is one among nine European nationals abducted by the Iranian regime since the start of the protests. The Ministry of Intelligence claimed that they were “participating in the unrest” and “colluding behind the scenes.” The Islamic Republic likely arrested these foreign nationals for the sake of supporting its theory that foreign powers are behind the protests.
An unknown artist dyed the water in a public fountain in Tehran red – perhaps to symbolize the blood that has been spilled in the regime’s crackdown on peaceful protesters.
This diagram published by JINSA tells the history of recent major Iranian protests. Since June 2021, wide-scale protests have been increasingly frequent. Unlike former protests, which focused on the poorly-performing economy, economic mismanagement, and corruption, these protests are clearly directed toward the regime itself.
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Eye on Iran is a news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a section 501(c)(3) organization. Eye on Iran is available to subscribers on a daily basis or weekly basis.