Pressure on the Iranian government increases as angry anti-government protests with rises in the country. Protestors make headlines joining in the protest for the second day calling justice for the mistake military shooting down of a Ukranian passenger jet killing around 176 passengers.
To the leaders of Iran – DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2020
Thousands of fearless protestors took to streets without fearing heavy police presence demanding the resignation of the Iranian president Hassan Rouhani while criticizing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by chanting “death to the dictator” which is an offense punishable by incarceration followed by execution.
Witnesses told New York Times’ Farnaz Fassihi that authorities tried to block Azadi Square as massive crowds gathered. The security forces teargassed and special forces and militia members attacked protestors by firing rubber bullets to curb the violence breakout.
The mob fury was further fueled with on Sunday with Iran’s moderate daily newspaper Etemad asking those who are responsible for the shooting down of a plane crash killing 176 people should apologize and resign. This has overshadowed the earlier government support after the assassination of Qassem Soleimani.
On the other hand, many believed the anti-US sentiments spread across the death of Soleimani while others believed that America is a fake enemy the real enemy is right here in Iran. Iranian regime fears that this widespread protests will bring back the month’s back fierce protests that were held before Soleimani’s death.
In total government’s attempts to suppress further protests are believed to have been brutal taking the lives of around 300-1500 people. But with internet shutdown, there is no way of knowing whether or not the death toll has increased.
On Sunday many gathered at universities campuses to protest while calls for bigger protests increased. In addition to that black-suited Revolutionary Guard members patrolled the capital on motorbikes to curb and protest efforts. US President Trump lauded the protests as well as calling against human rights violations. This has also led many to criticize Trump’s hypocritical statements.
مشاور امنیت ملی امروز عنوان کرد كه تحریم ها و اعتراضات، ایران را«به شدت تحت فشار»قرار داده است و آنها را مجبور به مذاكره می كند.در واقع، اصلا برایم اهمیتی نداردکه آیا آنها مذاکره می کنند یا نه.این کاملاً به عهده ی خودشان است، اما سلاح هسته ای نداشته باشیدو«معترضان خود را نکشید.» https://t.co/DBGGs8QFcJ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2020
In addition to that, Hossein Salami Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ leader heavily apologized for his forces that shot down a Ukraine International flight 752 saying that he has never been ashamed so much in his life. He further said that he should have been dead along with others in the plane rather than witnessing this tragic event.
