Protests renewed on Wednesday in Iran against a backdrop of ever-deteriorating living conditions. Marches mobilized not only in Isfahan, but several other cities.
Reports were made on police officers clashing with protesters namely in Isfahan and Karaj. Some eyewitness said riot police resorted to tear gas and batons to disperse protesters.
Despite police denials of using force against protesters, reports came in some civil rallies being hosed down with hot water in Isfahan.
Activists broadcast on social networks calling for widespread demonstrations across Iran.
Among many factors plaguing Iranians and compelling them to demonstrate for the second day in a row are staggering high living costs.
Witnesses said that protests in Isfahan have stretched out to other cities of Karaj, Ahwaz and Shiraz, with protesters chanting slogans against the deteriorating economic situation, unemployment rates and high prices.
Protesters not only chanted slogans denouncing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, but also urged other Iranians to join demonstrations. Video footage and live feed were circulated by activists on social media networks.
Frustrated by the management of the country’s affairs, Iranians criticized Tehran's regional behavior accompanied by poor administration running.
“Leave Syria and turn your heads towards us,” protesters chanted in a loud cry for authorities to put Iran first.
Other Iranians chose to yell out glorifying eulogies to the late Persian monarch Reza Shah Pahlavi, during whose reign Iran enjoyed a prosperous economy and secure living conditions.
Addressing Iran’s intrusive regional policy and the spending of national resources on military excursions and ambitions for hegemony, some demonstrators affirmed that their lives are dedicated not to Gaza, nor Lebanon, but only the homeland Iran.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, a military force acting under Khamenei’s directives, has extended a helping hand to Hamas’ military wing in Gaza and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia, labeled a terror organization by the US.
Demonstrators also set fires to block security forces in central Isfahan from stopping marches.
In coverage for erupting protests, the official IRNA news agency brushed off the rallies by saying that they were being carried out by a ‘trade union’ as a continuation of former labor protests which had broken out in the industrial town of Amirkabir.
