Tuesday evening, July 27, thirteen days after the protests erupted in the cities of Khuzestan province, a large banner of Khamenei in Baharestan, Isfahan burned in flames of the protesting residents of the city in the dark of night. The people first tore down Khamenei’s propaganda banner, which was very hard to tear, and set fire to the upper half of it which was still hanging on a pole, chanting “Death to Khamenei.”
The people of Isfahan shouted at last night’s rally: “Islamic Republic, we do not want, we do not want!” This slogan, which shouts “not wanting of the Islamic Republic” twice, can be heard in most anti-regime rallies and protests in different cities of Iran these days. Videos of the subversive rallies in Isfahan last night were shared on social media, in which the people chanted “Death to Khamenei! Khuzestan, Isfahan, united, united! Zealous Iranian, support, support!”
On the 13th day of the protests, according to reports, photos and videos shared by citizen journalists on social media, Iranians in their evening chants in Kordkuy, Golestan province, West Eyvan, Ilam province, Gohardasht, Karaj, Baharestan, Isfahan and Tehran rooftops, demanded the death of the Islamic Republic and Khamenei.
Hengaw, an independent organization that reports on human rights abuses in mainly Kurdistan, wrote about people protesting in Darreh-e-Darij neighborhood (Mahdieh town) of Kermanshah on Monday, July 26. Hengaw reported the arrest of at least 20 people during the protests. The identities of 14 detainees of Monday’s protests have also been confirmed by the organization.
Human Rights Activists News Agency, HRANA, also reported that at least 171 people had been detained during the protests since Thursday, July 15, to date. The news agency mentioned the spread of protests in at least 41 cities in Iran over the past two weeks, in which the exact number of citizens killed and/or injured is not known. Internet is still down in most parts of Khuzestan, and independent journalists and the international media are not allowed to enter the province to report on the situation. Only IRGC-affiliated propagandists from the terrorist group’s media (Fars, Tasnim, Mehr…) are allowed to enter the region. For two weeks now, these propagandists have been spreading lies and false reports 24 hours a day under the headline “Khuzestan Narrative“, some of which are exposed by the locals and the few images and reports that are leaked.
“Officers with military equipment have been deployed on the streets and have caused terror among the city’s residents,” a resident of Susangerd told HRANA. “Security guards gather in the streets with their military vehicles and motorcycles, and the intense presence of military forces has terrified our family members,” said another Hamidiyeh resident about the military atmosphere in the protesting city.