ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - In an unprecedented move that could open a new front against the regime in Tehran, hundreds of Sunni clerics have broken their silence and rallied behind the protesters, condemning the authorities, and calling on their peers in the Shiite religious establishment to back the legitimate demands of the people.
The call from the clerical establishment comes at a critical time for the Islamic Republic as it struggles to contain the protest movement that has shaken the foundation of its rule since the death of Kurdish woman, Zhina (Mahsa) Amini, at the hands of the morality police in Tehran in mid-September.
Security forces have used deadly force across Iran, in particular in the regions where ethnic minorities reside, killing at least 98 Kurdish protesters including 10 children since September 16. The death toll across Iran has risen to 437, including 61 children, as of Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, at least 40 clerics from the town of Divandarreh and surrounding villages appeared in a video filmed in a mosque, accusing the authorities in Tehran of ignoring the legitimate demands of the Iranian people for years. “Lack of freedom, social justice and inflation has placed people under unprecedented impasse,” the statement read. The clerics, most of whom are Friday prayer Imams with considerable followers, said that instead of listening to people, the authorities use violence to silence people.
The latest call comes after over 200 clerics from Sanandaj, Dehgolan, Oshnavieh, Naqadeh, and Piranshahr released two video statements recorded in mosques on Sunday and Monday backing the protesters and warning of the possible repercussion of executing protesters as demanded by the majority of the lawmakers earlier this month.
While the authorities are yet to make a move against the clerical establishment in the Kurdish areas, a day before the calls by the Kurdish clerical establishment, security forces had arrested an outspoken cleric, Mohamamd Bukani Khezernejad, on Saturday alongside his son in the town of Bukan which has witnessed some of the most violent protests. He was beaten while being arrested as agents turned Khezernejad's father house upside down.
The call from the Kurdish religious establishment coincides with an intense and even harsher crackdown unleashed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on protesters on November 15, a day after the forces fired a barrage of ballistic missiles and Kamikaze drones at the bases of the Kurdish opposition groups based in Kurdistan Region. The day also marked the third anniversary of the violent crackdown of protests in 2019 that resulted in security forces and the IRGC killing 1,500 protesters across the country.
In response to recent bloodshed in the Kurdish areas and following IRGC attacks on Kurdish opposition groups in the Kurdistan Region, the groups released a statement calling for a general strike across the Kurdish areas of Iran on Thursday in order to strengthen the unity of the people in fighting the oppression of the Islamic Republic.
“It has been a few days that the regime has used all its might in Kurdistan and has created a bloodbath and intends to carry out a general massacre,” read the statement from the Cooperation Center of Iranian Kurdistan’s Political Parties which include the main Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and the leftist Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan.
Kurdish activists speak about this second phase of the IRGC’s crackdown as the forces have taken over security in the Kurdish areas and have deployed thousands of troops in armored vehicles to crush the protests. On Monday, the streets of a small town in the foot of Zagros Mountains were turned into a bloodbath as the IRGC and its militia used live ammunition at stone-throwing protesters killing, at least six and wounding dozens.
The protests in the town of Javanrud in Kermanshah province started after Kurdish activists called on residents of the Kurdish region to take to the street to relieve the pressure on the people of the Kurdish city of Mahabad who were under attack from the IRGC and its militia.
The IRGC had laid siege on a neighborhood known as Bari Shilanan in the south of the city as protesters barricaded the streets. The killing of protesters in Javanrud was caught on camera and broadcast across the world, demonstrating the lack of disregard for human lives on the part of the establishment.
The clerical establishment in Sistan and Baluchestan, another mostly Sunni region, released a statement condemning the government for using small and heavy guns against protesters. “We expect that the Shiite clerics and marja break their silence and hear the call of the people … and do not allow this nation to be oppressed and slaughtered any further,” the statement read.
Iran has accused the West, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Kurdish opposition groups of being behind the protests. On Tuesday, for the fourth time in the past three months, the IRGC fired short-ranged ballistic missiles and Shahed-136 Kamikaze drones at the bases of the Kurdish opposition groups in the Kurdistan Region, wounding a number of Peshmerga fighters.
The protests see no sign of abetting despite the regime claiming they have effectively ended. Many cities and towns as well as universities protested on Tuesday condemning the government for suppressing Kurdish protesters.
“The rising number of deaths from protests in Iran, including those of two children at the weekend, and the hardening of the response by security forces, underline the critical situation in the country,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday. “We urge the authorities to address people’s demands for equality, dignity and rights – instead of using unnecessary or disproportionate force to suppress the protests. The lack of accountability for gross human rights violations in Iran remains persistent and is contributing to the growing grievances.”
