Amnesty International said security forces unlawfully killed at least 66 people in September after firing on protesters in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchistan province. Authorities said dissidents sparked the clashes. A video posted by the widely circulated activist Twitter account 1500tasvir purported to show thousands protesting again in Zahedan on Friday. Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the video. Another video, which 1500tasvir said was from the southeastern city of Khash, showed protesters trampling and breaking a sign bearing the name of top general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone strike in Iraq in 2020. Public outrage before the Sept. 30 shooting was fueled by allegations that a police officer raped a teenage girl. Authorities said the case is under investigation. Anti-government protests also erupted that month following the death of a Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code imposed on women. Across the country, protests have since turned into a popular uprising backed by students, doctors, lawyers, workers and athletes, with anger directed mainly at the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Women were at the forefront of the protests, with many removing their hijabs. On Friday, video emerged of archer Parmida Ghasemi removing her hijab during an award ceremony in Tehran. In the video, Ghasemi, standing with other athletes on the podium, lets her headscarf fall as unseen people in the audience clap and shout “well done”. The athlete next to her tries to lift Ghasemi’s scarf, but she moves her head away. Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the video. The government, which blamed Amini’s death on pre-existing medical problems, said the protests were being incited by Iran’s foreign enemies, including the US, and vowed to restore order. It accuses armed separatists of committing violence and seeking to destabilize the Islamic Republic. Some of the worst unrest has occurred in areas home to minority ethnic groups with long-standing grievances against the state, including Sistan and Baluchistan and Kurdistan. Sistan and Baluchistan, near Iran’s southeastern borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, is home to a Baloch minority of about 2 million people. They have faced discrimination and repression for decades, according to human rights groups. Iran has denied any discrimination. The region is one of the poorest in the country and has been a hotbed of tension where Iranian security forces have come under attack from Balut militants. The activist news agency Hrana reported that 330 protesters had been killed in the unrest by Thursday, including 50 minors. Thirty-nine members of the security forces had also been killed, while nearly 15,100 people had been arrested, it said.
