Two reportedly killed after Iranian forces 'open fire on protestors' as demonstrations continue for third day

[Ginvincible]

Two reportedly killed after Iranian forces 'open fire on protestors' as demonstrations continue for third day​

By Raf Sanchez
30 December 2017 • 5:55pm

An Iranian woman raises her fist amid the smoke of tear gas at the University of Tehran Credit:AFP


Two people are understood to have been killed after Iranian security forces reportedly opened fire on anti-government demonstrators on Saturday as the largest protests seen in the country since 2009 continued for a third day.

Reports of the two deaths were were posted on social media. There was no official confirmation of the fatalities but the posted images appeared to show several bodies being carried away after clashes with police in the western city in Dorud

Angry protests escalated in cities across Iran as demonstrators tore down posters of Ayatollah Khamenei, the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, while police on motorbikes charged into crowds swinging batons.

Protesters reportedly stormed the governor’s compound in the western city of Arak and started fires at government offices in Ahvaz, a city in the country’s southwest.

People protest in Iran's capital TehranCredit:Reuters


Donald Trump, the US president, warned Iran’s government that the “world is watching” its response to the demonstrators. He accused authorities of “squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad”.

The Iranian government shot back at Mr Trump, calling his comments “deceitful” and “opportunistic”.


The demonstrations began on Thursday in the northeastern city of Mashhad, largely over the rising cost of living, but quickly spread around the country and became more explicitly critical of Ayatollah Khamenei and of Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president.


While the security forces showed relative restrain during the first 48 hours of protests, their response hardened on Saturday and authorities reportedly cut off some internet access in Tehran to try to stop the spread of unrest.

Iranian students protest at the University of Tehran during a demonstration driven by anger over economic problems, in the capital TehranCredit:AFP


The chief executive of Telegram, a messaging app, agreed to shut down a channel popular with the opposition for allegedly encouraging violence after being contacted by an Iranian minister.

Several dozen students at the University of Tehran protested at the campus gates yesterday and chanted “death to the dictator” in apparent reference to Ayatollah Khamenei.

Security forces fired tear gas and made arrests and the protesters were eventually replaced by a larger crowd of pro-government students who chanted “death to the seditionists” as they took back control of the gates.

Thousands of people also turned out for annual pro-government rallies to mark the defeat of the last major protest movement in 2009.


Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli, the interior minister, warned people not to take part in “illegal gatherings” and said “they will create problems for themselves and other citizens”.

Mr Trump said in a tweet that the “Iranian government should respect their people’s rights, including right to express themselves. The world is watching!”

It was not clear what impact his intervention would have. Mr Trump’s decision to focus worldwide attention on the protests may discourage the Iranian government from using violence. But the protesters may also be sullied by association with Mr Trump, who is widely unpopular in Iran.

Iranians chant slogans as they march in support of the government near the Imam Khomeini grand mosque in the capital TehranCredit:HAMED MALEKPOUR/AFP/Getty Images


"The Iranian people see no value in the opportunistic claims by American officials and Mr. Trump,” a foreign ministry spokesman said.

The protests are a wildcard in the complicated political balance between Mr Rouhani, a relative moderate who was re-elected this year as president, and his more hardline political rivals.


While the hardliners may have initially encouraged the demonstrations as a sign of popular discontent with Mr Rouhani’s economic management of Iran, the protests have quickly expanded and taken aim at the core pillars of the Islamic Republic, including the supreme leader.

Mr Rouhani has not yet addressed the protestsCredit:Vahid Salemi/AP


Mr Rouhani has made no public comment since demonstrations began on Thursday. Some analysts said he might try to turn the demonstrations to his advantage by promising a more aggressive campaign against corruption in response to the demands from people on the streets.

"The country is facing serious challenges with unemployment, high prices, corruption, lack of water, social gap, unbalanced distribution of budget," said Hesamoddin Ashena, his cultural advisor. "People have the right for their voice to be heard."

One of the popular chants has “No Gaza No Lebanon, My Life for Iran”, an expression of frustration money being spent on Iran’s foreign interventions around the Middle East instead of on domestic programmes.

Source: The Telegraph

 

[Shashank]

Intresting days ahead for Iran and worried days for people who rushed to invest in Iran.
I guess india being kicked out of Faraz oil fields might be a blessing in disguise.

 

[Shashank]

I won't be sad to see this Iranian regime go down. They have shown us our place after sanctions were lifted post nuclear deal. They are no better than sauds for sure. Let's have chaos and use it to create baluchistan.

 

[_Anonymous_]

This is something which @nair and I have brooded over earlier elsewhere.

The deliberate 'slow go' over Chabahar was the pointer. India was unsure as to what would be the Trump policy over Iran. Seems US has decided to turn up the screws in Middle-East by continuing with Arab (now Persian?) Spring.

Nations are being 'forced' to fall in line, with recent 'course corrections' by Saudi Arabia being an indicator. The Ayatollah's will find the going tough for them as the regime is still liked, considered moderate, and the main thrust of the developing unrest being against the clergy.

It does not take a genius to predict the fallout here. Are we looking at an incremental unrest in Iran and do we also see a pressure on their restive -Baluchistan-Sistan region? Does that have larger ramifications vis-vis Indian PM's call to support Balochistan struggle?

A restive Iran will result in a restive Pakistan by continuation as the latter has a large Shia population which has actively answered the Call to Arms in Syria and elsewhere, and has been a target of anti-Shia campaign in Pakistan itself.

Comments on this line by members?

The clergy is well entrenched and has an extremely effective enforcement machinery in the Revolutionary Guards . The protests are on a large scale and enjoy public support but are largely spontaneous & unorganized.

I don't expect them to pose a serious challenge to the clergy much less manifest in something similar by Shia groups in Pakistan - where the dynamics and motivations of such groups are of a different order altogether .

 

[Dagger]

As far as I have conversed with them, even those with pretty atheistic life outlooks prefer the current islamic regime for "some more time". Their uniting factor is the fear of the arab sunni's tendencies to be easily swayed by isis style wahabism. But they do want lesser corruption and clergy power in their own country. The 8 years war is still in their thoughts and talks in a big way.

 

[RATHORE]

This is something which @nair and I have brooded over earlier elsewhere.

The deliberate 'slow go' over Chabahar was the pointer. India was unsure as to what would be the Trump policy over Iran. Seems US has decided to turn up the screws in Middle-East by continuing with Arab (now Persian?) Spring.

Nations are being 'forced' to fall in line, with recent 'course corrections' by Saudi Arabia being an indicator. The Ayatollah's will find the going tough for them as the regime is still liked, considered moderate, and the main thrust of the developing unrest being against the clergy.

It does not take a genius to predict the fallout here. Are we looking at an incremental unrest in Iran and do we also see a pressure on their restive -Baluchistan-Sistan region? Does that have larger ramifications vis-vis Indian PM's call to support Balochistan struggle?

A restive Iran will result in a restive Pakistan by continuation as the latter has a large Shia population which has actively answered the Call to Arms in Syria and elsewhere, and has been a target of anti-Shia campaign in Pakistan itself.

Comments on this line by members?

1. Unrest is never good for investors, but I have a feeling that whoever comes into power (as long as it isn't even bigger Islamists than before), something as important as Chabahar is likely safe in terms of continuity. And in all likelihood, a more liberal regime would be even friendlier to India than an overly conservative one.

2. I've long believed that once India is in a position vis a vis the Baloch that we can assume to speak on their behalf with relevant countries and the Baloch are reliant enough on us; we should work towards a deal with Afghanistan and especially Iran whereby they either support or simply turn a blind eye towards the freedom movement of Pakistan Occupied Balochistan; and India in exchange helps ensure that this fire does not spread to those two countries, and that any future Baloch nation does not behave in inimical manner to Iranian and Afghan interests.

But point 2 is obviously a much more futuristic scenario and depends on how much Indian influence and dependance there is among the powerful Baloch leaders and groups.

 

[BMD]

Iran warns protesters will 'pay the price' as unrest turns deadly

Iran warns protesters will 'pay the price' as unrest turns deadly


Ali Noorani and Eric Randolph

,
AFP•December 31, 2017

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A woman raises her fist amid tear gas at the University of Tehran during a protest on December 30, 2017
A woman raises her fist amid tear gas at the University of Tehran during a protest on December 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/STR)

Tehran (AFP) - Iran warned on Sunday that protesters will "pay the price" after a third night of unrest saw mass demonstrations across the country, two people killed and dozens arrested.

Videos on social media showed thousands marching across the country overnight in the biggest test for the Islamic republic since mass protests in 2009.

They showed demonstrations in Mashhad, Isfahan and many smaller cities but travel restrictions and limited coverage by official media made it difficult to confirm reports.

State media began to show footage of the protests on Sunday, focusing on attacks by young men against banks and vehicles, an attack on a town hall in Tehran, and images of a man burning the Iranian flag.

"Those who damage public property, disrupt order and break the law must be responsible for their behaviour and pay the price," Interior Minister Abdolrahman Rahmani Fazli said on state television.

"The spreading of violence, fear and terror will definitely be confronted," he added.

Lorestan province deputy governor Habibollah Khojastehpour told state television that two people were killed in the small western town of Dorud late on Saturday but denied security forces were responsible.

US President Donald Trump weighed in, saying "oppressive regimes cannot endure forever".

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders warned: "The days of America looking the other way ... are over."

Iranian authorities have sought to distinguish anti-regime protesters from what they see as legitimate economic grievances.

"Do not get excited," parliament director for international affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian wrote in a tweet directed at Trump.

"Sedition, unrest and chaos are different from gatherings and peaceful protests to pursue people's livelihoods," he said.

The protests began in second city Mashhad on Thursday over high living costs, but quickly spread throughout the country and against the Islamic system as a whole, with slogans such as "Death to the dictator".

But there have been reminders of the continued support for the regime among conservative sections of society, with pro-regime students holding another day of demonstrations at the University of Tehran on Sunday.

They had outnumbered protesters at the university the day before, although online videos showed significant protests around downtown parts of the capital later in the evening.

- Dozens arrested -

The total number of arrests was unclear but an official in Arak, around 300 kilometres (190 miles) southwest of Tehran, said 80 people had been detained overnight.

Police have so far taken a relatively soft approach to the unrest and there has been no sign that the Revolutionary Guards have yet been deployed.

Iranian authorities have blamed external forces for fomenting the protests, saying the majority of social media reports were emanating from regional rival Saudi Arabia or exile groups based in Europe.

Internet was temporarily cut on mobile phones on Saturday night but was restored not long after.

President Hassan Rouhani has so far not made any statement since the protests started.

He came to power in 2013 promising to mend the economy and ease social tensions, but anger over high living costs and a 12-percent unemployment rate have left many feeling that progress is too slow.

Unemployment is particularly high among young people, who have grown up in a less restrictive environment and are generally considered less deferential to authority.

"Rouhani has run an austerity budget since 2013 with the idea that it's a tough but necessary pill to swallow to manage inflation and currency problems and try to improve Iran's attractiveness for investment," said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder of the Europe-Iran Forum.

"But choosing years of austerity immediately after a very tough period of sanctions is bound to test people's patience," he told AFP.

Since the ruthless repression of the 2009 protests against a disputed presidential election that gave hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a second term, many middle-class Iranians have abandoned hope of securing change from the streets.

But low-level strikes and demonstrations have continued, with bus drivers, teachers and factory workers protesting against unpaid wages and poor conditions.

 

[Aravind]

Is this Iran's Tahrir square, Persian Spring like Arab Spring moment ?

 

[Guynextdoor]

Going by past experience, they probably will

 

[Shashank]

Iran protests: It’s 1979 all over again

A
s protests in Iran continue through the new year weekend, most external observers are hard pressed to explain their origin, organisation and political orientation. International reports from Tehran are agreed on one thing though. That the current rebellion appears very different from those seen in 1999 and 2009.If the past protests called for a reformation of the Islamic Republic established in 1979, some of the current slogans are calling for its overthrow. While few expect the protests to succeed, the legitimacy of the Islamic revolution is being challenged for the first time.

That puts the focus back on 1979 – a year that so fundamentally transformed the Middle East and the world for the worse. Not too long ago, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Sultan, called for a reversal of 1979 and all that meant. The Crown Prince was referring to the Islamic Revolution in Iran that promised to overthrow the old order in the region and the fear it generated among the Gulf sheikhdoms.

If the Gulf rulers embraced a deeply conservative and sectarian Islam to fend off the Islamic Republic’s challenge, the West embraced jihad as an instrument to end the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan at the end of 1979. In Pakistan, Gen Zia-ul-Haque began the Islamisation of Pakistan to defeat the democratic forces at home and aligned with the jihad to improve Pakistan’s standing vis a vis Afghanistan and India.

As the forces unleashed by 1979–including Osama bin Ladin, the Taliban, al Qaeda and the Islamic State—continue to haunt the world, the calls for a return of moderate Islam from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Gulf have been welcomed by many. The urge for social liberalisation and political modernisation in the Arab world now find their echo in Iran.

The protests of 1999 called for easing of the harsh clerical rule established after the Islamic Revolution overthrew the monarchy headed by the Shah of Iran in 1979. The failed protests exposed the severe limitations of an elected president, Mohammed Khatami, vis a vis the ‘supreme leader’—Ayatollah Khamaeni—who sits at the top of the clerical rule and holds all the reins of power.

In 2009, the protests led by the ‘Green Movement’ were sparked by anger at the perceived manipulation of presidential election results against the reformist candidates and in favour of the incumbent president, Mohammed Ahmadinejad. Despite support from the reformist factions, supreme leader prevailed again over the protestors by declaring Ahmadinejad as President.

Reports from Iran say the protestors are no longer taking about reform but are demanding an end to the clerical regime. Although the unrest was triggered by economic grievances, it has quickly escalated to include political demands and appears to have spread across Iran.

Among the slogans in the protests are direct attacks on the supreme leader: ‘Death to Khamenei’. The demands that the clerics should ‘let go of Iran’ were accompanied by the condemnation of the regime’s ‘revolutionary internationalism’. Social media accounts say that protesters were criticising the government for spending a fortune on external causes in the Middle East including in Palestine and Lebanon, while the Iranian people were suffering,

The most surprising slogans have been those supporting the monarchy. Four decades ago in 1979, the Islamic revolutionaries led by Ayatollah Khomenei rode to power on a wave of massive hatred against an oppressive monarchy. Now, at least some among those who have grown up under the Islamic Republic appear disenchanted enough to develop a nostalgia for the monarchy.

Another equally surprising slogan has been the condemnation of the ‘Arabisation’ of Iran and the demand for a Republic based not on Islam but on ‘Iranian nationalism’. Given the paucity of credible information on these protests, these slogans could be the exception rather than the norm. But by any measure they challenge the very legitimacy of the Islamic republic founded in 1979.

Many leaders of the reformist factions have come out criticising the protests and called on them to abide by the rule of law. There is speculation that at least some of these protests might have had the sanction of a section of the establishment to embarrass President Hassan Rowhani. But as the protests turn against the foundations of the regime, the rival factions might well close ranks. As the protests continued into the fourth night on Sunday, the government has promised to crack down hard on the protesters.

Tehran has also accused the United States and Israel of lending support to the protesters. President Donald Trump’s quick support for the demonstrators, and his administration’s known preference for regime change in Iran are bound to reinforce the determination in the Islamic Republic to crush the revolt. Irrespective of the immediate outcome from the current protests, a longer term challenge to the regional order produced in the Middle East in 1979 may have begun on both sides of the Gulf in 2017.

Source: Iran protests: It’s 1979 all over again

 

[Nilgiri]

Going by past experience, they probably will

Seems 50/50 to me, the despotic regime will not be shy of pulling off as many tianenmen style events if things reach their threshold levels in sustained way. IGRC are still heavily indoctrinated, they dont even need the main military corps really.

What it really depends on is if the movement extends to rural areas too (which was crucial in the shah overthrow as well).....because that is where IGRC (and state organs in shah's time) has little power and thus momentum can be sustained there quite credibly.

 

[Guynextdoor]

Seems 50/50 to me, the despotic regime will not be shy of pulling off as many tianenmen style events if things reach their threshold levels in sustained way. IGRC are still heavily indoctrinated, they dont even need the main military corps really.

What it really depends on is if the movement extends to rural areas too (which was crucial in the shah overthrow as well).....because that is where IGRC (and state organs in shah's time) has little power and thus momentum can be sustained there quite credibly.

Well Iran has an additional dimension as the bastion of Shia power. If the clergy comes down some people especially the igrc might believe that long term dominance of Sunni states like Saudi Arabia will be established. Let’s see what happens.

 

[Shashank]

Crackdown begins.
Hundreds Arrested As Khamenei Blames Iran's 'Enemies' For Unrest

TEHRAN, IRAN: Iran's supreme leader blamed the country's "enemies" on Tuesday for days of unrest that have seen 21 killed and hundreds arrested in the biggest test for the Islamic regime in years.

"The enemies have united and are using all their means, money, weapons, policies and security services to create problems for the Islamic regime," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech carried on state television.

Iranian officials have said online accounts in the United States, Britain and Saudi Arabia are fomenting protests.

A fifth night of unrest saw six protesters killed during an attack on a police station in Qahderijan in the central province of Isfahan, state TV said Tuesday.

At least three other towns near the cultural hub of Isfahan also saw violence overnight, causing the deaths of a young member of the Revolutionary Guards, a policeman and a bystander.

The estimated death toll is now 21 since protests began in second city Mashhad and quickly spread to become the biggest challenge to the Islamic regime since mass demonstrations in 2009.

"The enemy is always looking for an opportunity and any crevice to infiltrate and strike the Iranian nation," Khamenei said.

The unrest appears leaderless and focused on provincial towns and cities, with only small and sporadic protests in Tehran on Monday evening where a heavy police presence was reported.

As violence has spread, authorities have stepped up arrests, with at least 450 people detained in the capital since Saturday and 100 more around Isfahan on Monday, officials told local media.

A Revolutionary Guards spokesman said they had not been requested to intervene directly, but they requested the public to report "seditionist elements".

"We will not permit insecurity to continue in any way in Tehran. If it continues, officials will take decisions to finish it," said Esmail Kowsari, a deputy commander for a local branch of the Guards, on state television.

Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, described the unrest as a "proxy war against the Iranian people".

"Hashtags and messages about the situation in Iran come from the United States, Britain and Saudi Arabia," he told local media.

'Seditionist elements'

President Hassan Rouhani has tried to play down the unrest, which began over economic grievances Thursday but quickly turned against the regime as a whole with chants of "Death to the dictator".

"This is nothing," he said in a statement on the presidency website on Monday, vowing the nation would deal with "this minority who... insult the sanctities and values of the revolution".

Pro-regime rallies were held across several towns and cities -- reflecting continued support among a large conservative section of society.

"With every day that passes, the crimes of those arrested become more serious and their punishment will become heavier. We no longer consider them as protesters demanding rights, but as people targeting the regime," the head of Tehran's revolutionary court, Moussa Ghazanfarabadi, told the conservative Tasnim news agency.

Rouhani came to power in 2013 promising to mend the economy and ease social tensions, but high living costs and a 12 percent unemployment rate have left many feeling that progress is too slow.

The young are most affected, with as many as 40 percent out of work according to analysts, and rural areas particularly hard-hit.

'People have had enough'

"People have had enough, especially the young people. They have nothing to be happy about," Sarita Mohammadi, a 35-year-old teacher in Tehran, told AFP.

"The situation is far worse in provinces. Agriculture has been destroyed. I know many who have left the north of the country to come to Tehran to work," she added.

Rouhani acknowledged there was "no problem bigger than unemployment" in a speech on Sunday, and also vowed a more balanced media and more transparency.

US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticised Tehran over four days of demonstrations, said it was "time for a change" and that Iran's people were "hungry" for freedom.

The European Union on Monday pushed Iran to guarantee the right to protest and separately British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said "the UK is watching events in Iran closely".

"We believe that there should be meaningful debate about the legitimate and important issues the protesters are raising and we look to the Iranian authorities to permit this," Johnson said in a statement.

Turkey on Tuesday expressed concerned about the protests in a statement that called for "common sense" to "prevail to prevent any escalation".

In 2009, authorities ruthlessly put down protests against the re-election of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. At least 36 people were killed in 2009, according to an official toll, while the opposition says 72 died.

 

[Dagger]

This probably will not result in anything. Trumps tweet pinned them as american agents. I honestly don't think US wants to remove khomeini at this stage. They are milking GCC with the fear of the IRI. Israel is on the same side as GCC in this battle.
If ever, khomeini would be dethroned, my guess is it would have to be done by arab armies(unlikely). Unless Iran does something very aggressive.

 

[Shashank]

Iran Deploys Thousands of Security Forces Against Protesters, Shows Restraint

ranian pro-government supporters march during the funeral of a young member of the Revolutionary Guards, Sajjad Shahsanai, in the city of Najafabad, Jan. 3, 2018. At least three other towns near the cultural hub of Isfahan also saw violence overnight, causing the deaths of a young member of the Revolutionary Guards, a policeman and a bystander.

The Iranian government has taken a lesson from the Arab Spring in responding to the worst anti-government protests the country has seen in nearly a decade.

Heavy-handed tactics by Arab governments against popular uprisings in 2011 led to the overthrow of regimes in Egypt and Libya and sparked a civil war in Syria.

Iran had its own Arab Spring-inspired demonstrations in 2011, but police deployed in relatively small numbers and refrained from using deadly force, leading the protests to die down.

FILE - The head of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, speaks during a conference called "A World Without Terror," in Tehran, Oct. 31, 2017.
Calls for end to protests

Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the powerful Islamic Republic Revolutionary Corps, recalled the Arab governments’ experience as he declared an end to the protests Wednesday.

“Our security preparation and public scrutiny allowed the enemy to be defeated again, because if our situation was like Egypt, Syria and Libya, the Islamic Republic of Iran would have suffered irreparable damage,” Jafari said, in comments carried by the IRGC’s news agency.

The Iranian government has been widely criticized for using harsh tactics to suppress the protests.

Still, analysts say, the regime has been relatively restrained in its response, wary that taking harder measures could exacerbate the unrest, posing a fatal threat to its existence.

In this photo provided by Mehr News Agency, demonstrators attend a pro-government rally in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, Iran, Jan. 3, 2018.
Alex Vatanka, an Iran security analyst with the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, said Iranian officials are wary of the fate suffered by Arab governments.

“They’ve seen what has happened elsewhere, when you go in heavy-handed as far as protests are concerned,” he said.

In contrast to their violent crackdown on demonstrators during the 2009 “green movement” protests, Iranian security forces have been relatively restrained during the most recent anti-government demonstrations, Vatanka said.

“This certainly has not been the bloodiest of events,” he said.

At least 21 people have died in clashes between security forces and protesters over the past week. In 2009, hundreds of protesters were killed and thousands jailed.

FILE - Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard march during a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), in Tehran, Sept. 22, 2011.
The Revolutionary Guards

The Revolutionary Guards, which led the crackdown against protesters in 2009, have kept a relatively low profile over the past week.

The Guards, created in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, have a force of 150,000 enlisted fighters, according to one estimate.

Jafari said the Guards have deployed “limited numbers” of forces to three cities: Isfahan, Larestan and Hamadan.

A spokesman for the Guards said Tuesday that there had been no need to deploy forces in Tehran.

But behind the scenes, the Revolutionary Guards are “at the heart of it,” Vatanka said.

“I haven’t seen a single instance of a senior Revolutionary Guards commander at the street level,” Vatanka said. “That tells me they want to keep a distance, they sort of want to give the image that they’re watching, but they don’t think the time is right for them to move in.”

FILE - Members of the Basij, the paramilitary unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, gather around a replica of Jerusalem's gold-topped Dome of the Rock mosque as one of them waves an Iranian flag from on top of the dome during a military exercise, Nov. 20, 2015.
Basij paramilitary force

With the Revolutionary Guards staying on the sidelines, they have left it to the Basij paramilitary force to crack down on protesters.

Just how many Basij militiamen have been deployed remains unclear. Videos circulating on social media show uniformed and plain clothes Basij forces clashing with protesters in several cities. But they often have been seen behind police lines.

Deploying the all-volunteer “people’s militia” allows the government to inoculate itself against criticism for using force against demonstrators, Vatanka said.

“Because there is that distance between the Basij and the regime, the regime then likes to say, ‘This is not really us doing anything, this is the people, this is the good Samaritans of this country, acting in defense of their values and so forth,’” he said.

Riot police

Iranian riot police have been deployed in larger numbers, most recently to escort pro-government demonstrations held Wednesday.

The riot police officers are part of the Iranian national police’s Special Unit Forces and operate under the Ministry of the Interior.

National Police Commander Gen. Hossein Ashtari said Tuesday that “all police forces nationwide have been ordered to seriously deal with those threatening the lives of people or looters of public assets,” according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Videos on social media show confrontations between well-armed riot police officers and protesters in several cities. One police officer reportedly was killed in a confrontation in Isfahan on Monday.

But in other instances, police commanders have sought to engage protesters in dialogue. Protesters in turn have called on police to protect them against the Basij. In one video, protesters are heard chanting, “Police, help us to get rid of the IRGC and its Basij force.”

More at : Iran Deploys Thousands of Security Forces Against Protesters, Shows Restraint

 

[Shashank]

U.S. sanctions five Iranian entities, signals more measures

The United States on Thursday placed sanctions on five subsidiaries of an Iranian industrial group that is considered key in the development and production of the country’s ballistic missiles.

The sanctions imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, an arm of the Treasury Department, targeted companies that are owned or controlled by the Shahid Bakeri Industrial Group, an Iranian defense entity that already is under U.S. sanctions.

Last month, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, showed reporters fragments from missiles that had been launched by Yemeni rebels into Saudi Arabia. One shredded fragment had the Shahid Bakeri logo on it, seeming proof that it was manufactured in Iran.

The latest sanctions were directed at Shahid Kharrazi Industries, Shahid Sanikhani Industries, Shahid Moghaddam Industries, Shahid Eslami Research Center and Shahid Shustari Industries, all linked to Shahid Bakeri. Each produces a specific component of ballistic missiles, such as guidance and control systems, motor cases or fiber materials.

More at : U.S. imposes sanctions on Iranian entities key to ballistic missile production

 

[Shashank]

some collated facts from various media houses online. Not my work.

• Citizens saw a 40% increase in prices for basic goods, like eggs, in the lead up to the protests the NYT reports.
• 26.7% of 15-24 year olds are unemployed, per BBC. Total unemployment sits at 12.4%, but is as high as 60% in some areas of Iran.
• There have been 8 tweets from President Trump about the protests since they started.
• More than 1,000 protestors have been arrested since December 28, per the Daily Beast.
• "Tens of thousands" of Iranians are participating, Vox reports.
• Around 41% of homes in Iran have at least one smartphone, per BBC; social media has played a big role in spreading word of the protests.
• More than 25 cities have seen demonstrations, per the LA Times.