JEDDAH: Iranian security forces used heavy weaponry to repress protests in Kurdish-populated areas of Iran’s west on Monday, increasing a crackdown that has killed a dozen people in the last 24 hours, according to rights groups.
Since the death in September of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who had been imprisoned by morality police in Tehran, the Kurdish-populated provinces of western and northwestern Iran have been key protest hotspots.
In recent days, there have been particularly intense anti-regime demonstrations in numerous places, mostly spurred by the funerals of persons believed to have been slain by security forces during prior protests.
According to the Norwegian-based Hengaw rights group, Iranian soldiers pounded the cities of Piranshahr, Marivan, and Javanroud, sharing videos of the thud of heavy weaponry and live shooting.
It said 13 people had been slain by security personnel in the region in the previous 24 hours, including seven in Javanroud, four in Piranshahr, and two more in other locations.
Karwan Ghader Shokri, 16, was among six persons slain by security personnel on Sunday, according to Hengaw.
Another guy was killed as security forces opened fire on crowds as the teenager’s body was being carried to the mosque, according to the report.
The recent violence occurred amid ongoing worry about the situation in Mahabad.
Activists worry that Iran is aiming to use capital penalty to crush the protest movement by instilling terror in the populace.
According to Amnesty International, the authorities’ pursuit of the death penalty is “intended to terrify individuals taking part in the popular uprising… and dissuade others from joining the movement.”
It also condemned a “chilling escalation in the use of the death penalty as a tool of political repression and the systemic violation of fair trial rights in Iran” as part of the approach.
Iraq condemned the attacks on its Kurdish territory in the north.
Source: Arab News
