Three Kurdish protesters killed as Khamenei says enemy is behind the unrest

Fazel Hawramy

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian security forces on Wednesday night killed three Kurdish protesters in the west of the country, hours after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called on authorities to deal with the protests which he described as “minor incidents”.

A large number of protesters took over the streets of several Kurdish cities in western Iran (Rojhelat) as well as in other provinces across the country during the fourth week of protests which have engulfed the country since the death of Kurdish Mahsa (Zhina) Amini on September 16 by the morality police in Tehran.

Hengaw Human Rights Organization reported violent confrontation in a neighborhood of Kermanshah city, the biggest Kurdish metropolis in western Iran. “During intense confrontation between government forces and protesters in Dara Derizh in Kermanshah, at least 40 members of the government forces were wounded, and taken to Abul Fadhl hospital in Kermanshah,” Hengaw reported in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Another Kurdish human rights organization reported at least three protesters dead in Kermanshah and Sanandaj. “At least three protesters named as Aziz Moradi, Sina Nderi, and Armin Sayadi were killed as a result of shooting by security forces, at least 48 protesters in other cities were wounded and one is reported to be in critical condition,” Kurdistan Human rights Network (KHRN) said on Thursday morning. 

Despite the arrest of thousands of people across the Kurdish areas over the past month,  large protests took place in Kurdish cities of Mahabad, Baneh, Bukan, Saqqez, Divandareh, Sanandaj, Kermanshah and Ilam, according to KHRN.

KHRN and Hengaw monitor human rights violations mostly in the Kurdish provinces, namely in Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam, parts of West Azerbaijan and other localities across Iran where Kurds are present. At least 32 protesters have been killed in the Kurdish areas and nearly 1,000 wounded. Hengaw reported that at least two protesters have died under torture.

On Wednesday, the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights placed the nationwide death toll at at least 201 killed since protests began.

Across the rest of Iran, intense protests took place in Tehran’s Naziabad district and in the southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.

Thousands of university students protested across the country chanting “death to dictator” and calling for an end to the Islamic republic regime. A video went viral on social media on Wednesday showing the security forces unleashing violence on ordinary people who were trying to prevent the security forces from arresting a young man in the Iranian capital.

Protesters have managed to send videos outside of the country despite severe restriction of internet access by the authorities. US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met virtually with more than 20 global technology companies and “emphasized the United States’ commitment to helping Iranians, especially in light of their critical need for expanded access to Internet services while their government violently suppresses peaceful protests.”

The violent protest on Wednesday night came as Iranian intelligence officials made stark threats against Kurdish protesters and blamed Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups of fomenting the protest.

The crackdown continues as scores of protesters were detained on Wednesday, including workers from the petrochemical plants in southwest of the country. Khamenei, the ultimate decision maker, called on security forces on Wednesday to deal with what he described as “minor incidents” when referring to the protest.

Khamenei described the protesters as two groups, one consisting of people who have been deceived and should be guided to the right path through cultural guidance and the other who are with the enemy and should be dealt with by the intelligence and security forces.  “Some say that the atmosphere should not be militarized, yes we also agree and the atmosphere should not militarized as far as possible, but cultural work has its own place and the judicial and security work its own,” Khamenei said.

The governor of Kurdistan province Esmail Zarei Koosha on Thursday rejected reports that the security forces have deployed tanks and military aircrafts to quell the protest and unrest in the city of Sanandaj but he admitted the protests were intense and that the arrests have been extensive.

“In areas where people congregated, more than 140 and 150 members of the police and Basij were wounded as a result of stones thrown at them but they [security forces] did not react at all… we had seven or eight members of Basij and IRGC wounded with bullets and one was martyred,” Koosha said. “I don’t have exact number of those killed but the arrests have been extensive.”