As the Iranian government marks the anniversary of the 1979 revolution in various parts of the country, the popular uprising against the regime gained momentum, Iran International reported on Friday.
In parallel, the authorities released a journalist on Friday and seven female activists the day before, according to AFP.
Those released included Saba Kordafshari, Alieh Motalebzadeh, Fariba Asadi, Parastoo Moini, Zahra Safaei, Gelareh Abbasi and Sahereh Hossein.
The Iranian authorities have arrested thousands of people since the outbreak of protests across the country, following the death of the young woman, Mahsa Amini, on Sept. 16, days after she was arrested by the morality police for violating the strict dress code for women in the country.
A group of civil and political activists chanted slogans such as, “down with oppressors” and “Woman, Life, Freedom” in front of Tehran’s Evin Prison on Thursday night, after the release of the detainees.
The destruction of government symbols continued in various places, as a video clip posted on social media showed a citizen lowering the flag of the regime and throwing it in a trash can in the city of Ganrud, in the west of the country.
Another footage, obtained by Iran International, showed demonstrators burning government banners commemorating the 1979 revolution in the eastern Kerman province.
Meanwhile, residents of Zahedan, southeastern Iran, took to the streets for the 19th week in a row. In Sanandaj, the people organized a march to demand the release of the cleric, Ibrahim Karimi, who was arrested by the Tehran regime.
Meanwhile, Iran released on Friday hunger-striking jailed dissident Farhad Meysami, Reuters reported, citing the Iranian judiciary.
Supporters had been warning that the man risked dying for protesting against the compulsory wearing of the hijab.
Images on social media of an emaciated Meysami, who had been in jail since 2018 for supporting women activists protesting against Iran’s headscarf policy, had gone viral and caused outrage among social media users and international rights group, Reuters said.
Also on Friday, the reformist Shargh daily reported that Hossein Yazdi, a political activist and journalist, was released from Dastgerd Prison in the central city of Isfahan.
Yazdi was arrested on Dec. 5, sentenced to one year in prison and banned from traveling for two years, the newspaper had earlier reported, without providing details about the charges against him.
It had said Yazdi was the “manager of Mobin 24 website and Iran Times news channel.”
Earlier this week, Iran released a young protester, Armita Abbasi, whose case sparked international concern after she was arrested in October in connection with protests in the city of Karaj, outside Tehran.
In November, a CNN report cited leaks and an anonymous medical source as saying that she had been taken to hospital after being raped while in detention. The Iranian authorities denied the accusations.
After her release, Abbasi posted a video on Instagram, thanking all those who supported her case.
