Iranians protest in southeast flashpoint, mark 'Bloody Friday' - Reuters

DUBAI, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Thousands of Iranians protested successful the restive southeast connected Friday to people a Sept. 30 crackdown by information forces known arsenic "Bloody Friday" arsenic the country's clerical rulers battled persistent nationwide unrest.

Amnesty International said information forces unlawfully killed astatine slightest 66 radical successful September aft firing astatine protesters successful Zahedan, superior of flashpoint Sistan-Baluchistan province. Authorities said dissidents had provoked the clashes.

A video posted by the wide followed 1500 Tasvir activistic Twitter relationship purported to amusement thousands marching again successful Zahedan connected Friday. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the footage.

Another video which 1500 Tasvir said was from the municipality of Khash successful the southeast showed protesters trampling and breaking a thoroughfare motion carrying the sanction of apical wide Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated successful a U.S. drone onslaught successful 2020 successful Iraq.

Popular choler up of the Sept. 30 shooting was fuelled by allegations of the rape of a section teenage miss by a constabulary officer. Authorities person said the lawsuit is being investigated.

Anti-government demonstrations besides started erupting that period aft the decease of a Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by morality constabulary for allegedly flouting the Islamic Republic's strict formal codification imposed connected women.

Nationwide demonstrations person since turned into a fashionable revolt, with radical ranging from students to doctors, lawyers, workers and athletes taking part, with fury directed mostly astatine Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

A radical of countries led by Germany and Iceland requested a debate connected the "deteriorating" concern successful Iran astatine the U.N. apical quality rights assemblage aboriginal this month, a papers showed.

GRIEVANCES, TRIALS

The government, which has blamed Amini's decease connected preexisting aesculapian problems, has said the protests are fomented by Iran’s overseas enemies including the United States, and has vowed to reestablish order.

It accuses equipped separatists of perpetrating unit and seeking to destabilise the Islamic Republic.

Some of the worst unrest has been successful areas location to number taste groups with long-standing grievances against the state, including the Sistan-Baluchistan and Kurdish regions.

Sistan-Baluchistan, adjacent Iran’s southeastern borderline with Pakistan and Afghanistan, is location to a Baluch number estimated to fig up to 2 cardinal people. They person faced favoritism and repression for decades, according to quality rights groups. Iran denies that.

The portion is 1 of the country’s poorest and has been a hotbed of hostility wherever Iranian information forces person been attacked by Baluch militants.

The activistic HRANA quality bureau said 330 protesters had been killed successful the unrest arsenic of Thursday, including 50 minors. Thirty-nine members of the information forces had besides been killed, portion astir 15,100 radical person been arrested, it said.

Iran's hardline judiciary volition clasp nationalist trials of astir 1,000 radical indicted for unrest successful Tehran, a semi-official quality bureau said connected Oct. 31.

They were accused of acts of sabotage, assaulting oregon sidesplitting members of the information forces oregon mounting occurrence to nationalist property.

VIDEOS, SERMONS

In a statement, United Nations quality rights experts urged Iranian authorities connected Friday to halt indicting radical with charges punishable by decease for participation, oregon alleged participation, successful peaceful demonstrations.

The experts, peculiar rapporteurs, expressed interest that women and girls who person been astatine the forefront of protests mightiness beryllium peculiarly targeted.

Social media videos purported to beryllium from the municipality of Saravan successful Sistan-Baluchistan showed protesters wearing accepted Baluch robes calling for the decease of Khamenei.

"Where did the subject forces get trained to sprout people? Today it has go wide that radical were killed unjustly," Molavi Abdolhamid, Iran's astir salient Sunni cleric and a long-time professional of Iran's Shi'ite leaders, said successful his Friday supplication sermon successful Zahedan."Authorities indispensable condemn this crime, and those who ordered (the events of) Bloody Friday and its perpetrators indispensable beryllium brought to trial," Abdolhamid added.

It appeared tensions could emergence again successful Zahedan.

State tv reported that the crushed forces commandant of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, told a gathering of Sunni and Shi'ite tribal elders and spiritual leaders that clerics had to beryllium cautious astir what they said.

Additional reporting by Emma Farge successful Geneva: Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Jonathan Oatis and Andrew Heavens

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