Protests expand to 100 cities in 30 Iranian provinces as the internet is shut down
Women killed or arrested during people’s intense clashes with security forces
Thursday, September 22, 2022, was the 7th day of the nationwide anti-regime protests in Iran sparked by the murder of Mahsa Amini. Protests have expanded to over 100 cities in 30 of Iran’s 31 provinces.
The clerical regime, fearing its overthrow by the uprisings spread, made a large-scale internet shutdown on September 22.
Instagram and WhatsApp social networks have been completely shut down. Also, many VPNs are out of order. Reports and images of the uprising cannot be posted.
Amid its crackdown on the November 2019 uprising, which resulted in the death of around 1,500 Iranian youths and women, the Iranian regime completely cut off the internet in the entire country for several days.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said in a Twitter message: “The Iranian regime has turned to #Internetshutdown and blocking social media to prevent the spread of #IranProtests its news and images. However, the Iranian people’s cry for freedom cannot be extinguished. The world must condemn this cruel censorship and provide free access.”
Deaths and arrests of women during intense conflicts
During the bloody clashes between the people and the regime’s security forces, dozens of people were killed. The regime is making widespread arrests of young people and women.
Footages and reports on social media previously reported the death of Mrs. Hajar Abbasi, an elderly mother of six, in Mahabad on September 19 and an unknown woman in Kerman on September 20.
On September 22, Amnesty International reported that it had recorded the deaths of 6 men, one woman, and one child during the protests on September 28 and 29 in Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and West Azarbaijan provinces.
According to social media, Mrs. Ghazaleh Chalavi was also martyred in Amol on September 21, 2022. Other reports say security forces arrested about 70 protesting women in Tehran and Karaj and took them to the notorious Qarchak prison of Varamin.
Minoo Majidi, a courageous woman from Kermanshah
The funeral ceremony of Minoo Majidi became the scene of protests by the people of Kermanshah.
Minoo Majidi, 62 years old from Qasr-e Shirin, was the mother of three children and lived in Kermanshah. On the evening of September 20, 2022, she was shot in the head and killed by anti-riot forces at Nobahar Intersection in Kermanshah.
An informed source said that the regime initially refused to hand Minoo Majidi’s body to her family.
Minoo Majidi’s funeral turned into an anti-regime demonstration. The participants bid farewell to this brave woman by chanting, “Women, life, freedom.”
Protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody
Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish girl from Saqqez, died on September 16, 2022, in Kasri hospital in Tehran after three days of being in a coma due to a brain injury and bleeding.
She was arrested and beaten by the clerical regime’s Guidance Patrol, also known as the Morality Police, for breaching the compulsory Hijab rules. The published CT scans of her head indicate that she suffered a skull fracture and brain hemorrhage due to a direct hit on the head.
Thousands of Saqqez people participated in her funeral and protested against Mahsa Amini’s murder. In this way, the unjustified murder of Mahsa Amini sparked protests that have continued for seven days and expanded to the entire country.
On the occasion of Mahsa’s death, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi announced public mourning. She described her as the daughter of all of Iran.
