Human rights media and social media have reported continued protests in various cities in Iran. Many cities are under a state of security and their internet is down. People in Golpayegan and Isfahan took to the streets chanting slogans against the government.
Despite the tight security situation in some Iranian cities, protests continued on Tuesday night (May 17). According to HRANA, the news agency of the Iranian Human Rights Activists Association, people in the cities of Golpayegan and Jhunqan chanted slogans in protest of the current situation.
HRANA wrote that videos of the situation in Golpayegan that this news agency has received indicate a large presence of protestors in the streets of the city. Internet access has been cut off in the city of Jonghan. Reports have also been published about demonstrations in Isfahan. Some news reports indicate that security forces attacked protestors in Golpayegan and arrested some people.
According to HRANA, protesters in Golpayegan have taken to the streets with slogans such as “Shame on the president, leave the country,” “Support the police, support,” and “Cannons, tanks, fireworks, the mullah must disappear.”
A resident of Mahabad also informed HRANA about the establishment of a security atmosphere in the city. According to him, armored vehicles and the special Faraja unit are present in different parts of the city. A person from Tehran also said about the security conditions in the city: "The simultaneous public protests with the bus drivers' strike has created a security atmosphere in Tehran. Security forces are present on the streets in a tangible and intangible way and are trying to control the atmosphere in a way that does not lead to people gathering and protesting."
Protests in Iran over rising food prices, including bread, began in mid-May in some cities in Khuzestan and later spread throughout Iran.
In recent days, protest movements against rampant inflation and the incompetence of officials have intensified in many cities in Iran, and in many cases have been accompanied by slogans against the Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, and the head of government he supports, Ebrahim Raisi.
Many prominent Iranian artists, including Shahram Nazeri, Asghar Farhadi and Reza Kianian, have protested the living conditions. Asghar Farhadi, a prominent Iranian director, referred to the “economic and political pressures on the Iranian people” at the Cannes Film Festival, saying: “Like many Iranians, I cannot be truly happy. People are fed up and nothing makes many Iranians happy right now.”
Parviz Parastoei, a well-known Iranian actor, also supported the protests of the people in a letter addressed to Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Republic, and wrote: "Sign the decree of the welfare of the nation with my blood." He, who had traveled to the United States in early May to screen his film in California, faced a lot of criticism for not saying anything about the repression of the people in Iran.
About 550 political and civil activists warned the Islamic Republic's officials that "violent confrontations with disobedient and desperate citizens" would intensify popular protests.
Source: DW
