Protests Erupt in Tehran's Bazaar

Iranian protestors try to erect barricades. Photo: Twitter
Iranian protestors try to erect barricades. Photo: Twitter
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Protests Erupt in Tehran's Bazaar

Iranian protestors try to erect barricades. Photo: Twitter
Iranian protestors try to erect barricades. Photo: Twitter

Protesters in Tehran's bazaar have chanted slogans denouncing the regime amid tight security measures on the 107th day of public protests in Iran.

Online account "1,500 Tasvir," which closely follows the Iranian protests, published a video showing a state of panic in the bazaar and chants of "death to the dictator" and "poverty, corruption, and high prices will overthrow the regime."

Social media activists had called for rallies in Tehran and other cities in Iran to protest the economic situation and reported that bazaar shop owners went on strike.

On Thursday, state media reported that Iran appointed a new central bank governor.

Iran's currency has lost a quarter of its value since the protests erupted three months ago, dropping to a record low in the unofficial free market as desperate Iranians buy dollars and gold, trying to protect their savings.

The new head of the central bank, Mohammad Reza Farzin, told state television on Friday that the central bank's most important responsibility is to control inflation and the foreign currency rate.

Farzin announced the bank's intervention in the market as he began his first official day at work.

Meanwhile, activists reported that at least one person was killed in Javanrud after security forces opened fire on people who gathered for a mourning ceremony making the fortieth day of the death of demonstrators in November.

People chanted "death to Khamenei" to resist security forces.

According to the Hengaw organization for human rights, security forces fired live ammunition and tear gas, killing one and injuring eight other people in a local cemetery.

A day earlier, Hengaw reported that 126 protesters were killed in Kurdish cities, including 19 children, since the outbreak of the protests.

Iran has been witnessing protests since September 16, following the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was killed during her arrest by the morality police.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported small gatherings in various cities in Iran and published videos of protesters chanting against the regime.

The 1,500 Tasvir observatory showed crowds in the center of Balochistan province chanting "Death to the dictator" in reference to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The Balochs make up the majority of the impoverished province, which has a population of two million and has been suffering from discrimination, deprivation, and oppression for decades.

The protests are one of the boldest challenges facing the "guardianship of the jurist" regime since the 1979 revolution.

The authorities blamed the protesters, charging them with "destroying public property," and claiming they were trained and armed by enemies of the state and foreign countries.

On Tuesday, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi said that his country would not show mercy to "enemies" of the regime.

HRANA said that 508 protesters had been killed as of Friday, including 69 minors. It added that 66 members of the security forces were also killed.

The organization estimated that the number of detainees reached 19,199 demonstrators.

According to the Oslo-based Human Rights Organization in Iran, 476 demonstrators were killed.

Iranian officials said that up to 300 people, including members of the security forces, have died in the unrest.

Last week, the Supreme Court accepted an appeal for a death sentence against rapper Saman Saidi Yassin but confirmed the same penalty against protester Mohamed Qabadlo.

Earlier this month, the court suspended the death penalty for protester Mahan Sedarat, accused of various crimes, including stabbing an officer and setting a motorcycle on fire.

On Saturday, the Iranian judiciary's spokesperson, Mizan, reported that the Supreme Court ordered a retrial of a defendant who had been sentenced to death.

Human rights organizations outside Iran reported that the Supreme Court accepted the appeal for a death penalty sentence against Sahand Noor Mohammadzadeh, who was accused of damaging public property.

Mizan reported that the court accepted his appeal and sent his case back for review based on new evidence.

Iranian courts have imposed death sentences in more than a dozen cases, based on charges such as "moharebeh" after convicting protesters of killing or injuring members of the security forces, destroying public property, and terrorizing the public, according to Reuters.

Last Tuesday, the Human Rights Organization in Iran, which tracks executions, warned that at least 100 protesters face the risk of execution, charges that carry the death penalty, or the possibility of death sentences being issued against them.



Tehran Residents, Hezbollah Supporters in Beirut, Sadrists in Baghdad Rally against Israel Strikes

People attend an anti-Israeli protest after Friday prayers, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Tehran, Iran, June 20, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People attend an anti-Israeli protest after Friday prayers, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Tehran, Iran, June 20, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
TT
20

Tehran Residents, Hezbollah Supporters in Beirut, Sadrists in Baghdad Rally against Israel Strikes

People attend an anti-Israeli protest after Friday prayers, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Tehran, Iran, June 20, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People attend an anti-Israeli protest after Friday prayers, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Tehran, Iran, June 20, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Thousands of people protested Friday in Iran’s capital after noon prayers over the ongoing Israeli airstrikes targeting the country.

Those in the crowd shouted: “Death to America! Death to Israel!”

“No compromise! No surrender! Fight with America!” they chanted at another point.

Some waved Iranian flags, while others carried placards decrying Israel.

Iranian state television aired footage from the protests at other cities in the country as well, with one demonstrator seen pulling a man dressed up in a President Donald Trump mask by his necktie.

One 47-year-old resident of Tehran, Hossein Gorji, offered his hard-line viewpoint and said military operations against Israel should continue.

“Israel’s attack against Iran was not much of an attack. Iran has just started the offensive. We will stand by them (the armed forces) until the end,” he told The Associated Press.

“Compromise never reached any result, and it won’t in future. How can we compromise with an enemy that breaches deals? Let’s uproot and throw it away and comfort all Muslims around the world,” said Gorji.

In Lebanon, Hundreds of supporters of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah gathered in Beirut’s southern suburbs after Friday afternoon prayers to demonstrate in support of Tehran in the ongoing Israel-Iran war.

Demonstrators carried the Iranian, Lebanese and Palestinian flags as well as that of Hezbollah, and chanted “death to America” and “death to Israel.” Some also chanted pledges of allegiance to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who is revered as religious authority by many Shiites.

Hezbollah suffered severe losses in a war with Israel that ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in November and has so far remained on the sidelines the Iran-Israel war.

In Iraq, thousands of supporters of influential Shiite cleric and political leader Moqtada al-Sadr took to the streets on Friday in Sadr City, on the outskirts of Baghdad, in response to a call by al-Sadr to show support for Iran in its conflict with Israel.

The demonstration began after Friday prayers with protesters wearing white burial shrouds in a symbolic gesture of readiness to sacrifice. Some burned Israeli and US flags.

Iran-backed Iraqi militias have so far largely stayed out of the fray in the Israel-Iran war but have threatened to attack US forces and interests in Iraq and the region if Washington launches direct attacks on Iran.