Blocked roads then bullets: Iran's brutal crackdown in its City of Roses

By Dilip -
An internet blackout hid the state’s response to unrest in Shiraz. Interviews with activists and an analysis of social media posts reveal what happened. By Michael Safi
“What are you scared of?” the woman in the black coat shouts. “Help me to understand.” She marches up to a man in uniform guarding the petrol station. “You’re ruining us,” she screams, as the man walks away. The exchange comes from footage taken around 1am on Friday 15 November in the south-central Iranian city of Shiraz. Hours earlier, in a surprise announcement, Iran’s government had said it was raising the price of fuel by up to three times, adding to the strain on a population already struggling with an economy suffocated by US sanctions.

The petrol-price hike would trigger what may have been the largest-scale unrest in the 40-year history of the Islamic Republic. Iranian officials this week estimated 200,000 people were involved in the protests and riots which led to 7,000 arrests and, by some estimates, the regime’s deadliest-ever response to demonstrations. Amnesty International have confirmed 15 deaths in Shiraz; those on the ground say the toll is much higher.

Like the rest of Iran, Shiraz was cut off from the world by an unprecedented five-day internet blackout. Precisely what transpired in the heartland of Persian culture known as the City of Roses is still unclear. But interviews with activists inside and outside Shiraz, as well as analysis of social media posts, give a glimpse of what is thought to have been one of the largest protest outbreaks in the country, incurring one of the highest known death tolls....
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/01/iran-fuel-protest-crackdowns-revealed-on-social-media

see also

TAREK FATAH - Khomeini’s savagery celebrated in Canada (June 2013) // Deadly Fatwa: Iran's 1988 Prison Massacre (Report by Iran Human Rights Documentation Center)

Janet Afary and Kevin B. Anderson - Revisiting Foucault and the Iranian Revolution
Rocking the casbah: the gig of a lifetime that put Iranian women back on stage
Iran And World Powers Agree On Framework For Nuclear Deal // What The Iran Deal Means For Obama's Foreign Policy Legacy // CIA documents acknowledge its role in Iran's 1953 coup - BBC
DAVID HAYES - Iran’s hidden prisoners
'I am not a spy. I am a philosopher.' 125 days in an Iranian prison by Ramin Jahanbegloo


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