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Iran Unrest Boils, Guards Strike ‘Terrorists’ in Northern Iraq

Demonstrations have spread since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in the custody of Iran’s so-called morality police.

Iran Unrest Boils, Guards Strike ‘Terrorists’ in Northern Iraq
Iran Unrest Boils, Guards Strike ‘Terrorists’ in Northern Iraq

Unrest in Iran flared again in towns and cities on Monday and the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps struck “terrorist groups” in northern Iraq it has accused of fanning the protests. 

Demonstrations now in their 10th day have spread since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in the custody of Iran’s so-called morality police.

According to official figures released by state media, 41 people have been killed and hundreds arrested. It’s the most widespread unrest in Iran since November 2019, when rights groups reported authorities killing hundreds of people protesting a surge in fuel prices.

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The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps started a new round of artillery and drone strikes on “terrorist groups” in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region on Monday, the semi-official Tasnim agency reported. The IRGC previously accused the militants of fomenting the protests. 

The region borders Iran’s northwestern provinces, where Kurdish communities have been protesting heavily in solidarity with Amini who was from a Kurdish city in the area. 

Video spread on social media overnight showed protests continuing in several towns across the country. Over the weekend footage of a number of funeral ceremonies purportedly of people shot dead by security forces was also posted. None of the videos could be verified by Bloomberg.

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In the capital Tehran, two residents who didn’t want to be named for safety reasons, said there was a substantial police and security presence in many of the city’s main junctions and squares. People mostly turned out in their cars in order to gridlock traffic, sound their horns in support of Amini’s family and spread leaflets, they said, adding that protesters had gathered on foot mostly in the central district of Sattar Khan.

On Monday, Iranian state TV was dominated by footage of government-organized rallies in support of the Islamic Republic in various towns as part of ongoing efforts to counter the protesters.

Detained for allegedly breaking the country’s dress code for women, Amini’s family accuse police of beating her and covering up the injuries, rejecting police claims that she died of heart failure after falling into a coma.

The European Union’s top foreign envoy called on Iran to immediately halt its violent crackdown on the protests, criticizing the Islamic Republic for a “widespread and disproportionate use of force.”

In a statement on Sunday, Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign and security affairs, said that Iran must fully investigate what happened to Amini. 

The EU has a critical role mediating negotiations between Iran and the US toward restoring the 2015 nuclear deal, with talks stalled for several weeks. Borrell said that the bloc will “consider all options at its disposal” in its response to Iran’s efforts to suppress protests and heavily restrict people’s access to the internet. 

The EU has often sanctioned Iran over human rights but many of the penalties it had imposed over the past 10 to 15 years were lifted under the terms of the nuclear accord. 

(Updates with details on protests, IGRC strikes throughout)

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