Security Pressures Intensify Ahead of Anniversary of November 2019 Protests; Dozens in Behbahan City Summoned to Prosecutor’s Office
As the anniversary of November 2019 protests approaches, reports indicate that security pressures on families of those killed in these protests have intensified. Among other actions, security officials have issued summons to dozens of Behbahan citizens, including families of the deceased.
Based on a copy of a summons from the Third Investigation Branch of the General and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office of Behbahan County that reached Voice of America, the prosecutor’s office has summoned dozens of Behbahan citizens, including some family members of those killed in the November 2019 events, such as Farzaneh Ansari Far, sister of Farzad Ansari Far, one of those killed in November.
Among the charges against these individuals listed in the summons are insulting Khamenei and “participation in disruption of public order and peace,” “undermining national security,” and “collusion and conspiracy to commit crimes against domestic/foreign security.”
According to the summons, the individuals named must report to the prosecutor’s office within five days, otherwise they will be arrested.
On Sunday, the 18th of November, images were also circulated on social media showing the destruction of the road leading to Behesht-e Rezvan Cemetery in Behbahan, ahead of the anniversary of those killed in the November 2019 protests.
Some social media users reported that after families of the November 2019 victims in Behbahan announced they intended to hold a commemoration ceremony at “Behesht-e Rezvan” in Behbahan, they encountered this scene.
According to informal reports, the cemetery road has been completely blocked by the government, and the destruction is said to have been carried out on the orders of the “Police Command and Intelligence Office of Behbahan and by the Municipality.”
Behbahan was also the scene of widespread gatherings and harsh, severe crackdown on people by the forces of the Islamic Republic regime during the nationwide November 2019 protests.
Last November, people in various Iranian cities took to the streets to protest the sudden increase in gasoline prices. According to Reuters news agency, following Khamenei’s order, approximately 1,500 protesters were killed. The Iranian government did not punish the suppressive forces, but instead detained and convicted the protesters.
The United States says the Islamic Republic uses its national wealth to support terrorist groups and destabilize the Middle East instead of serving the Iranian people. The United States has also repeatedly condemned systemic financial corruption and plundering of Iran’s natural resources by regime-affiliated individuals, considering them among the main causes of Iran’s economic and financial problems.
Donald Trump, President of the United States, has also repeatedly addressed the issue of Iranian protesters and American support for the Iranian people, stating that “protesters in Iran are seeking freedom and we fully support them.”
The U.S. State Department has also repeatedly condemned violent conduct and widespread suppression of protesters in various cases, as well as repeated and ongoing violations of Iranian citizens’ rights by the regime ruling that country.
Source: Voice of America
