Iran tightens its crackdown when some oil workers say they are joining the protests

DUBAI, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Iranian security forces stepped up anti-government protests in a number of Kurdish cities on Monday, as protests elsewhere in Iran spilled over into the country’s vital energy sector.

Protests have since engulfed Iran Mahsa AminiA 22-year-old man from the Kurdish region of Iran died in September. Sixteen people were arrested for “improper dress” after marking one of the boldest calls against the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.

While university students played a key role in the protests, which led to dozens of university strikes, unconfirmed reports on social media indicated that workers from the Abadan and Kangan oil refineries and the Bushehr Petrochemical Project joined.

It was not possible to comment on the Iranian Ministry of Oil.

A combination of mass protests and strikes by oil workers and market traders helped bring the clerics to power in the Iranian revolution 40 years ago.

However, analysts said Iran’s clerical leadership was likely to rein in the unrest for now, and prospects for a new political order were dim. read more

A video posted on Twitter showed dozens of workers blocking the road to the Bushehr petrochemical plant in Assaluye, a city on the coast of Iran’s Gulf, chanting “Death to the dictator”.

The tension between the authorities was particularly high Kurdish minority human rights groups are said to have been under pressure for a long time – a charge the Islamic Republic denies.

Human rights group Hengaw reported on Monday that armed security forces were strong in the Kurdish towns of Sanandaj, Saghez and Divandare. He said that at least 5 Kurdish residents have died and more than 150 people have been injured in the protests since Saturday.

Videos shared on social media showed protests in dozens of Iranian cities early Monday morning, and violent clashes between protesters and riot police in cities and towns in Ami’s native Kurdistan province. On Wednesday, posts on Iran’s social networks called for mass protests.

Iranian authorities have blamed a number of enemies for the violence, including armed Iranian Kurdish dissidents. The Revolutionary Guards attack their bases in neighboring Iraq several times during recent unrest.

“READY TO DIE”

Iran has a track record of quelling unrest among the more than 10 million Kurds, part of the Kurdish minority whose demand for autonomy has led to conflicts with authorities in Turkey, Iraq and Syria.

Heavy gunfire was heard in several videos shared by 1500tasvir activists on Twitter. In the video, several eye-popping explosions took place in Sanandaj neighborhood, the center of Kurdistan province.

Activists said on social media that several people, including two teenagers, had been killed by security forces in the state. Reuters was unable to verify the videos and transcripts.

Fired by tear gas, batons and in many cases live bullets by security forces, rights groups said, protesters across Iran continued to burn effigies of religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and call for the downfall of the clerical authority.

At least 185 people, including 19 minors, have been killed, hundreds injured and thousands arrested by security forces, according to rights groups. Blaming Iran’s foreign enemies for the protests, authorities said the “rioters” killed at least 20 members of the security forces.

In Iran, schoolgirls joined protests, and videos were shown on social networks.

“O world, listen to me: I want a revolution. I want to live free and I am ready to die for it,” said a 17-year-old protester who could not reveal his name and location in one of the central cities of Iran. Reuters due to security concerns.

“I prefer to die by their (security forces’) bullets during freedom protests than to die every minute under the repressions of this regime.”

Written by Parisa Hafezi; Edited by Tom Perry, William Maclean and David Evans

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