Tens of hundreds march in Berlin in assist of Iran protests By Reuters

By Leon Malherbe and Parisa Hafezi

BERLIN/DUBAI (Reuters) -Tens of hundreds of individuals marched in Berlin on Saturday in a present of assist for protesters in Iran the place unrest ignited by Mahsa Amini’s demise in police custody entered a sixth week regardless of a lethal state crackdown.

The protests have posed one of many boldest challenges to Iran’s clerical management for the reason that 1979 revolution, even when they don’t seem near toppling a authorities that has deployed its highly effective safety equipment to quell the unrest.

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, died within the custody of morality police after being detained for “improper apparel”. Protests erupted at her funeral on Sept. 17 within the Kurdish city of Saqez earlier than spreading throughout Iran. Rights teams say greater than 200 individuals have been killed within the crackdown.

Girls have performed a outstanding half, waving and burning veils. The deaths of a number of teenaged women reportedly killed throughout protests have fuelled extra anger.

In Berlin, police estimated 80,000 individuals joined the march, with protesters waving Iranian flags and holding banners saying “Lady, Life, Freedom”. Organisers mentioned Iranians had travelled from america, Canada and all around the European Union.

“From Zahedan to Tehran, I sacrifice my life for Iran,” human rights activist Fariba Balouch mentioned after giving a speech on the Berlin gathering, referring to Iranian cities swept up within the protests. The gang responded with “Dying to Khamenei”, referring to Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Anti-government activists mentioned the Berlin march was the biggest ever demonstration in opposition to the Islamic Republic by Iranians overseas.

“I really feel excellent, as a result of we’re right here to (say) ‘We’re with you, with all Iranian individuals’. I’m Mahsa Amini’s voice,” mentioned a protester who gave her identify as Maru.

Movies posted on social media – which Reuters couldn’t independently confirm – confirmed protests persevering with in Iran at a number of cities together with Tehran, northeastern Mashhad, northwestern Mahabad, Dezful within the southwest and plenty of universities throughout the nation.

Movies confirmed protesters chanting in Tehran’s western Sadeghieh neighbourhood and lighting fires within the streets of the capital’s Lalehzar district. One other confirmed automobiles in Mashhad honking their horns and demonstrators chanting “Dying to the dictator”.

Social media movies mentioned to be from Dezful confirmed youths chanting “Freedom, freedom, freedom” as they confronted police within the predominantly ethnic Arab, oil-rich province of Khuzestan on the Iraqi border.

‘THE LAST WARNING’

Khamenei has warned no one ought to dare suppose they’ll uproot the Islamic Republic, accusing its adversaries of fomenting the unrest. State TV has reported the deaths of not less than 26 members of the safety forces.

Among the deadliest unrest has been in areas dwelling to ethnic minorities with long-standing grievances in opposition to the state. These embrace the Sistan-Baluchistan province within the southeast and its provincial capital Zahedan.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Saturday accused a number one Sunni cleric of agitating in opposition to the Islamic Republic and warned it might value him dearly after he held officers together with Khamenei accountable for dozens killed in Zahedan final month.

Amnesty Worldwide has mentioned safety forces killed not less than 66 individuals in a crackdown after Friday prayers in Zahedan, on Sept. 30.

Molavi Abdolhamid, Zahedan’s main Sunni cleric, mentioned throughout his Friday sermon that officers together with Khamenei, head of the Shi’ite-dominated state, have been “accountable earlier than God” for the Sept. 30 killings. He described the killing as a bloodbath, saying bullets had been fired at heads and chests.

A brief assertion on Sepah Information, the Revolutionary Guards’ official information web site, mentioned: “Mr. Abdolhamid, encouraging and agitating youths in opposition to the sacred Islamic Republic of Iran might value you dearly! That is the final warning!”

State media mentioned on the time of the Sept. 30 violence that “unidentified armed people” opened hearth on a police station, prompting safety forces to return hearth.

The Revolutionary Guards mentioned 5 members of its forces and the volunteer Basij militia have been killed throughout the Sept. 30 violence. Authorities blamed a Baluchi militant group. Neither that group nor every other faction claimed a job.

Protests had been fuelled by allegations of the rape of an area teenaged lady by a police officer. Officers have mentioned the case was being investigated.

After protests erupted in Zahedan once more on Friday, deputy inside minister for safety, Majid Mir Ahmadi, mentioned calm had returned, official information company IRNA reported.

He mentioned 150 “thugs attacked public property and even these retailers belonging to Sunnis”.

Rights teams say the federal government has lengthy discriminated in opposition to ethnic minorities together with the Kurds.

The state denies accusations of discrimination.

In Iran’s Kurdish area on Saturday, movies posted on-line confirmed shopkeepers on strike in a number of cities within the northwestern Kurdish area, together with Sanandaj, Saqez and Bukan.