Mahsa Amini Protests Break Out in Iran Despite Heightened Security

Cities across Iran have been overtaken by military patrols and checkpoints as security forces have been stationed at key locations to prevent demonstrations on the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death.

Defiant protesters have nevertheless gathered in several cities – as seen in videos received by IranWire today.

In Tehran, videos received by IranWire show Islamic Republic security forces at Enghelab Square dispersing any gatherings of more than three people. 

Reports have also emerged of masked agents arresting citizens in Tehran's Enghelab Square.

Despite the prevailing security measures, and renewed internet disruptions, videos have surfaced showing citizens on buses chanting slogans against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

🎞️ Despite heavy crackdowns, including multiple cases of security forces opening fire on protesters, videos on social media show protesters are gathering in different cities across #Iran on the one-year anniversary of #Mahsa_Amini’s death in police custody. Hundreds of protesters… pic.twitter.com/4XMAYqu9vk

— IranWire (@IranWireEnglish) September 16, 2023

A video from a protest rally in Gohardasht, Karaj, near Tehran, shows citizens chanting, "We are a great nation, we will reclaim Iran."

Security forces in Karaj fired tear gas when faced with protesters chanting “Our enemy is here not America!"

🎞️ Protesters in the Gohardasht district of #Karaj take to the streets on the one-year anniversary of #Mahsa_Amini’s death in police custody, chanting “We will fight, we will die, we will take back #Iran!” #truth #IranRevoIution #IranProtests pic.twitter.com/8psbFCjsB4

— IranWire (@IranWireEnglish) September 16, 2023

Protesters in Karaj also chanted “Death to Khamenei!” and “Death to the dictator!” Similar slogans were chanted in Shiraz in the southwest of the country.

Iranians in Isfahan and Mashhad also joined new demonstrations amid the heightened security situation.

And in Mahsa Amini's hometown of Saqqez, in Iranian Kurdistan, government forces have blocked roads leading to the Aichi cemetery where Amini's grave is located. The authorities have also blocked secondary routes to Amini's grave by releasing waters from a nearby dam and flooding parts of the area. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has deployed heavily armed forces to Saqqez where they are conducting patrols and questioning residents.

🎞️ On the one-year anniversary of #Mahsa_Amini’s death in police custody, passengers on a Tehran bus chant “Mullahs get lost!" and call for the death of #Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
#truth #IranRevoIution #IranProtests pic.twitter.com/PSogUzPL0V

— IranWire (@IranWireEnglish) September 16, 2023

Heightened security measures in Kurdish towns are part of efforts by the authorities to prevent unrest on the anniversary of Amini’s death. The 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman was killed on September 16 last year when in the custody of Iran’s morality police. Her death sparked months of nationwide protests.

Information obtained by IranWire also suggests a widespread strike is ongoing in Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan and Ilan provinces, and that shopkeepers have refused to open their businesses. 

In many districts of Tehran, protesters chanted slogans such as “Death to the dictator!” and “Woman, Life, Freedom!” overnight. Many people gathered on residential building rooftops or their own balconies from which they chanted slogans. 

Meanwhile, in several western Kurdish towns, people set up roadblocks and honked their car horns in support of demonstrations and against the government.

Human rights website Hengaw reported that extensive security deployments in the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam and West Azarbaijan had not deterred fresh “protest gatherings” from taking place in Abdanan, Kermanshah, Marivan, Sanandaj and Baneh on Friday evening.

In Abdanan, a city in Ilam province, a group of protesters lit fires in the streets.

Piranshahr, in West Azerbaijan, saw similar scenes as people gathered to commemorate Amini's anniversary by sounding their horns and building protest roadblocks.