At least 15 are dead in Iran following a sectarian attack by gunmen at a Shiite holy site on Wednesday.
Add yet another wrinkle to the country’s anti-regime actions that have been going on for weeks around the Mullah’s religious dictatorship.
Iranian state TV claimed that three Sunni Muslim extremists known as “takfiris” descended on the Shah Cheragh mosque in the southern city of Shiraz, shooting and killing at least 15 people, presumably worshippers.
The overwhelming majority of Iranians are Shiite Muslims who split off in a schism when Islam was still young — but memories are long, tempers are violent, and forgiveness and accommodation don’t really seem to be things in that part of the world.
AP reports that the attack “appeared to be unrelated to the demonstrations.”
But it might be another sign of the Mullahs losing grip over the country they’ve ruled with iron fists since 1979.
Protests began 40 days ago following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, following her arrest and beating by Iran’s Guidance Patrol morality police for wearing her mandated hijab improperly.
The country has been wracked by protests every day since then, including a wildcat strike affecting Iran’s vital oil industry.
I should add that the protests have continued despite increasing regime violence against unarmed civilians.
Even with Tehran’s crackdown on social media, videos continue to leak out to the wider world.
Protesters have set a #Basij base on fire inside Imam Ali mosque of #Gorgan. #Basij paramilitary forces play key role in suppressing anti regime protests in #Iran.#MahsaAmini #مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/4JAEkMgAU5
— Babak Taghvaee – Μπάπακ Τακβαίε – بابک تقوایی (@BabakTaghvaee) October 26, 2022
Iranian security forces are reportedly using either birdshot or some kind of pellet gun ammunition on protestors, sometimes blinding them.
Watch Police Forces of #Iranian regime using shotguns against protesters in #Qazvin today. Many of the protesters have lost vision in one eye or both because of the birdshot used by these terrorists.#MahsaAmini #مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/Snue8sUcdt
— Babak Taghvaee – The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) October 26, 2022
This woman get blind on one eye for gun fire of Iran regime forces, world is just watching human right violation in Iran but not doing any real action to stop evil.#مهسا_امینی#MahsaAmini#opIran#اعتصابات_سراسری pic.twitter.com/v5rbE9PU5P
— پیتزای قرمه سبزی (@GormeSabziPitza) October 20, 2022
Not all the protestors seem to be unarmed, or perhaps not even civilians.
In #Iran 🇮🇷, the Colonel of the #IRGC Javad #Kikh, who was responsible for the supply of Iranian 🇮🇷 unmanned aerial vehicles to #Russia 🇷🇺, was killed today. pic.twitter.com/qe7wFMa4Be
— Dylan Frank (@DylanFrank21) October 26, 2022
Two officers of Iran’s elite Republican Guard were found shot dead in a car yesterday, location as yet unknown. Their ranks aren’t entirely clear, either. Some claim they were involved in the production of drones used by Russia against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.
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Some of the protests truly are peaceful, as you can see in this next clip.
Iran: With regime blocking all roads to the cemetery where #MahsaAmini is burried, people are heading to her grave on foot, Oct26, 40th day since her death, Saqez, Kordestan. #مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/H7CRo4qLAm
— Khosro Kalbasi Isfahani (@KhosroKalbasi) October 26, 2022
I had half-expected the protests to peter out by now, nearly six weeks after Amini’s murder. Instead, both sides appear to be escalating, with some protestors taking to Tehran’s rooftops to drop tables and chairs on security forces down in the streets.
It just happened in #Tehran.In Bagh Sepehsalar neighborhood, people throw tables, chairs and other heavy objects from the roofs of the buildings on the security forces of #Iranian regime in the streets. Anti-regime protests are reported in tens of cities across #Iran.#MahsaAmini pic.twitter.com/TXJyMweqh3
— Babak Taghvaee – The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) October 26, 2022
Serves them right, of course.
Some, like my enthusiastic Twitter source above, say these aren’t mere protests any longer — that Iran is going through another revolution.
For a revolution to succeed, it needs some kind of political organization and a popular figurehead. I have yet to see either in any of the many stories I read or foreign Twitter accounts I follow.
But after six weeks of increasing restlessness, it’s clear that these protests have grown to become something much larger than an outburst against the police murder of a young woman.
What comes next, nobody knows. But if nothing else, these brave women and men might just have put the fear of God into the Mullahs.
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