The head of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard warned protesters that Saturday would be their last day to take to the streets, in a sign that security forces may step up their crackdown on the unrest sweeping the country.
Iran has been gripped by protests since the September 16 death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini while in moral police custody, posing one of the boldest challenges to the clerical leadership since the revolution of 1979.
“Don’t come to the streets! Today is the last day of unrest,” Guard commander Hossein Salami said in some of the harshest language used in the crisis, which Iran’s clerical leadership blames on its foreign enemies. including Israel and the United States. .
“This sinister plan is an elaborate plan … in the White House and the Zionist regime,” Salami said.
The feared Revolutionary Guards, which report directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have not been deployed since the demonstrations began on September 16. They are an elite force with a record of overwhelming dissent.
LOOK | Protests in Iran gain momentum 41 days after Mahsa Amini’s death:
Protests in Iran gain momentum 41 days after the death of Mahsa Amini
More than 40 days after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Iranian police custody, protests continue to gain momentum.
Rights groups have said at least 250 protesters have been killed and thousands arrested across Iran in the protests, which have turned into a popular uprising by angry Iranians from all walks of life.
Video footage on social media on Friday showed protesters calling for the death of Khamenei and the Basij militia, which has played a major role in efforts to quell the demonstrations.
The Ministry of Intelligence and the intelligence arm of the Revolutionary Guard have accused the spy agencies of the United States, Britain, Israel and Saudi Arabia of orchestrating the unrest to destabilize the Republic islamic
Salami, speaking at a funeral for victims killed in an attack this week claimed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group, reiterated that message in a direct address to the protesters.
“Don’t sell your honor in America and don’t slap the security forces that defend you,” he said.
Reports of further bloodshed
Iranians have defied these warnings during the popular uprising in which women have played a prominent role. There were further reports of further bloodshed and renewed protests on Saturday.
Human rights group Hengaw reported that security forces shot students at a girls’ school in the northern Iranian city of Saqez, Amini’s hometown. In another post, he said security forces opened fire on students at the Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences in the Kurdistan provincial capital of Sanandaj.
Several students were injured, one of whom was shot in the head, Hengaw said. Reuters could not verify the report.
Videos posted on social media by activist groups purported to show protests at several universities across the country in cities including Kerman, Mashhad, Qazvin, Ahvaz, Arak, Kermanshah, Yazd and a dozen campuses in the capital, Tehran.
Activist news agency HRANA released a video it said showed protesters at a university holding hands in a large circle and chanting: “If we don’t unite, they will kill us one by one.”
HRANA (Human Rights Activists News Agency) said 272 protesters had died in the unrest on Friday, including 39 minors. 34 members of the security forces were also killed. Nearly 14,000 people have been arrested in protests in 129 towns and cities and about 115 universities, he said.