Shooting at Protesters in Shahr Kord, Ned Price Shows Support for Protesters

Deutsche Welle cannot independently verify the time and location of these protests.

Over the past week, price increases and shortages of essential goods have sparked a new wave of protests in various regions of Iran, including Karavan district (Razaviyeh) in Tehran, Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and Lorestan.

On Saturday, the 24th of Ordibehesht, Ahmad Avai, the representative of Dezful in Andimeshk, confirmed that one person was killed in protest demonstrations in Andimeshk. However, on Sunday he denied this news, saying that his interview with ILNA news agency on this matter was “distorted and inaccurately reported.”

Following this, ILNA released an audio file of the interview in which Avai clearly states that one person was killed in Andimeshk.

Ned Price, the U.S. State Department spokesperson, expressed support for Iranian protesters on Twitter on Sunday, the 25th of Ordibehesht, writing: “Brave Iranian protesters stand up to defend their rights. The Iranian people have the right to hold their government accountable. We support their rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom from fear of violence and retaliation.”

Support from Six Organizations for the Protests

Six Iranian opposition organizations issued a statement supporting the protests of recent days in various Iranian cities, including Dezful, Andimeshk, Kermanshah, Izeh, Jonqan, Khorramabad, Farsan, Borujerd, Rasht, Nishapur, Dahedasht, Shahr Kord, and Yasuj, stating that it is expected that protests against price increases in Iran “especially after the severe inflationary effects become more apparent in the coming weeks, will expand to other cities.”

In their statement, they said that this collection of protests, along with nationwide protest movements of teachers, can “gradually take on an organized and coordinated nature and ultimately lead to lasting change in the balance of power in favor of the people.”

They also stated that attributing the protests and political slogans to “opposing groups” by the Iranian government’s propaganda apparatus is “so discredited that it is not even believable among the social base of the regime.”

They emphasized that “the main factor in creating the current dire conditions and laying the groundwork for people’s protests is the policies, actions, and destructive and ill-considered decisions of government officials.”

These six groups are the “Union of Iranian Republicans,” the “National Front of Iran-Europe (Sixth Order),” the “Left Party of Iran (Fada’ian-e Khalq),” the “Republican Socialist Democratic and Secular Party of Iran,” “National Front Organizations of Iran Abroad,” and the “Republican Solidarity of Iran.”