Popular protests; "At least one person was killed" in Farsan; Internet shutdown in several cities in Khuzestan

A civil activist living in Farsan, a province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, said on Wednesday, May 18, that despite the prevailing security climate, direct shooting at protesters by security forces, and a complete internet shutdown, scattered public protests in the city are continuing.

Meanwhile, reports on social media indicate that internet connectivity is still down or slow in at least several cities in Khuzestan province. Messages from the "1500 Pictures" account mention the cities of Masjed-e-Suleiman, Izeh, and Mahshahr.

Because official and public media in Iran do not cover such news or are prohibited from covering it, Radio Farda is unable to independently verify these news and reports.

An unnamed civil activist living in Farsan stated in an interview with the news and analytical website "Imtadad" that the public protests in Farsan began on the evening of May 13 in the city center, and within a few minutes, police forces and special forces stormed the gathering site and clashed with the protesters.

According to this eyewitness, the protests escalated from "the firing of tear gas by security forces to direct gunfire," and "a protester who was shot in the head is currently in a coma in the intensive care unit."

Protest gatherings in the Baba Haidar district of Farsan also resulted in the death of one protester, but so far "the body has been refused to be handed over to the deceased's family."

According to this report, several other protesters were also directly shot in the shoulder area or in various other places by security officers and were transferred to medical centers due to the severity of their injuries.

The source says that there is still no information about the status of those detained in this city.

The Emtaed news website quoted this source as saying that a day before the protests began in the "Jungan" district, protest gatherings had formed and "one of the Basij centers caught fire," but this was not reflected in the government media.

Junqan in Farsan County has been a center of protests in recent days. However, media outlets affiliated with or close to the government have not covered the protests, and most local officials and members of parliament have either not spoken about them or are trying to downplay them.

The recent protests were sparked in mid-May this year following the official announcement of rising bread prices, its rationing, and a multiple increase in food prices in a number of cities in Khuzestan, and spread to other provinces.

The latest videos sent to Radio Farda show that the city of Golpayegan has also joined the cities involved in the protests, thus expanding the scope of the protests from the western provinces to Isfahan province in the center of the country.

In these videos, protesters chant slogans against the Leader of the Islamic Republic and the President of Iran, including "Khamenei is a murderer, his government is invalid," "Shame on the president, abandon the country," and also the slogan "Reza Shah, may your soul be happy."

In recent days, numerous videos have also been released showing protesting citizens being injured and even killed by live ammunition and shotgun pellets in various cities.

It is still unclear how many people have died in these protests, and in only one case has a representative from the city of Dezful in Khuzestan Province confirmed that one person was killed in the city.

The common point of the suppression of protests in all of these cities is the government's disconnection of the internet to minimize the ability of protesters to communicate.

Source: Radio Farda