The Islamic Republic media have been writing about the return of calm and peace to Isfahan every night for two days. Fars News Agency described the Isfahani protesters as “thugs” and declared the protests and rallies “over” after the “special unit” (anti-riot) carried out its “tent torching” operation in the dry riverbed of Zayandeh Rud. “Thugs” was an insulting title that the IRGC media attributed to the citizens of Isfahan in two separate news articles, quoting two regime officials on the same day, Thursday, November 25, 2021:
On the other hand, the media affiliated with the so-called “reformists” headlined and “tweeted” about the “cleansing” and “attack of some people” with the same language used during “Golden era of Khomeini” – which is so dear to “reformists!” Meanwhile, a news agency which calls itself “Ensaf”, meaning “fair”, spent a special creativity and journalistic initiative copying the text and content of its reports from IRIB (Radio & TV) and Fars News exactly and then published:
It is at such times that understanding of the slogan of the people shout in protests of the last few years becomes clear: “Reformist, hardliner, it’s game over- that’s it – you’re done!“
Review of Isfahan’s Black Friday, November 26, 2021, based on videos from protests
The sound of bullets that came from Khuzestan some time ago can now be heard from Isfahan. This is the sound of water war beginning, and it is only a part of the tragedy that is before us. Fortunately, people know the root of problems and chant: Death to the dictator
– Mahnaz Karimi, Mother of Vahid Damvar, a victim of November 2019 protests
They were supposed to come at 10 o’clock in the morning. After the burning of farmers’ tents on the Zayandeh Rud riverbed by special units, the residents of Isfahan, in support of farmers, called for a rally at 10:00 AM on Friday, November 26, on social media. People came. They came much earlier. Repression forces and plainclothes men also had come. Water was not in Zayandeh Rud but Basijis and batons were. In the dry riverbed of Zayandeh Rud, they were picking up rocks in their gym clothes, and sticks in hand. They were not from Isfahan. They were agents and scoundrels. Between Bozorgmehr bridge and Metal bridge, they were stumping their hooves in the bottom of a river that regime had dried! They attacked the people who had come for protest. To prevent people from entering the riverbed, the streets leading to the Khajou, Bozorgmehr and Metal Bridges were blocked by the regime forces. It was not long before the people took back Zayandeh Rud from the batons and Basij; With empty hands, they forced the repressive forces to retreat. Protests and clashes did not remain limited to Zayandeh Rud. Very quickly, the whole city became the scene of a united protest against the IRGC and Basij and the police force of the Islamic Republic, who were beating people with the intention of killing them, firing tear gas; They shot directly at the old and the young, “not only to the head, but also on the legs.” The protesters opened the roads leading to the three bridges of Bozorgmehr, Khajoo and Metal. The whole area was under people’s control for hours. Mobile internet in this area was disrupted or completely cut off from the first hours. With the intensification of the brutality and violence of the police force, mobile internet of the whole city of Isfahan was cut off. Home Internet was also severely slowed down and disrupted. But the people did not leave the streets. The protests lasted until late at night; so did repression.
The detainees include elderly people, women, young people under the age of 18 and young people up to the age of 30.
In a number of videos released during the “Black Friday” protests in Isfahan, citizens are seen with severe injuries: bullet-riddled bodies, bloody faces, beaten and swollen eyes, lifeless bodies lying on the ground and bleeding; no one knows exactly who was killed and injured yesterday. In a report released a few hours ago, the Human Rights Organization of Iran announced the arrest of more than 120 people and their transfer to Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan. According to the report, three detainees were transported directly by ambulances to the medical ward and morgue of the prison, where they may have been killed. “At around 10PM, they brought in several people with wounds, all of them below 40, and were taken to the clinic or detention. It was not clear if they had been shot or otherwise. At around 12 midnight, three people were brought to the medical center by ambulance, and it is possible that these three people were killed by bullets. In the prison medical center, there is a section belonging to the IRGC that even has a morgue, and they took the three people directly there, and it is said that these three people were killed.”
Human Rights Activists News Agency, HRANA, quoted the mother of one of the participants in the “Black Friday of Isfahan” protests as saying: “My 20-year-old son went to the riverbed of dried up Zayandeh Rud to protest along with his farmer uncle and other protesters. Unfortunately, he was injured in the knee after being beaten by police. His uncle, who suffers from asthma, is also in a bad shape after inhaling tear gas.”
Tasnim, another IRGC news agency, quoted Mohammad Reza Heydari, commander of the Isfahan police force, saying that intelligence forces had identified the protesters. In identifying the protesters and publishing pictures of the faces of the protesting residents of Isfahan, Mojahedin Organization (MEK) also rushed to the aid of the regime’s intelligence services by tweeting this.
Prince Reza Pahlavi called the Islamic Republic the “domestic enemy” and praised the resistance and freedom-seeking of the people of this region throughout history. He admired their patriotism and fighting-spirit of the regime in the 8-year war with Iraq, the “foreign enemy”, comparing the today Islamic Republic to yesterday’s Iraq with Saddam:
In Friday prayers, AlamalHoda introduced the same domestic enemy of the Iranian people as “God” and said: “Gathering in front of God is futile, but gathering should be done for rain prayers.”
Friday, November 26, 2021, AlamolHoda’s God shed bloods in Isfahan.
Translation of this post by Sahar.