A major development Thursday and Friday in Iran strongly suggests the protests crisis is escalating and will grow more violent, as hundreds of demonstrators set their sights on the historic and iconic “house of Ruhollah Khomeini” – the revolutionary hardline Islamic cleric credited with founding and leading the Islamic Republic.
The “anti-hijab” protests which have raged for two months are now attempting to destroy the republic’s most sacred symbols, after a Tehran court began handing out the country’s first death sentences to protesters, or “rioters” as state authorities have called them.
Astonishing scenes from #Iran. Protesters have burned down the house of Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic’s founder.
The house has been a museum for the past 30 years. This is an attack in the essence of the republic itself. pic.twitter.com/Qtk5jr5AR6
— David Patrikarakos (@dpatrikarakos) November 18, 2022
Reports AFP, “Protesters in Iran have set on fire the ancestral home of the Islamic Republic’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.”
The report further confirms that “The house in the city of Khomein in the western Markazi province was shown ablaze late Thursday with crowds of jubilant protesters marching past, according to images posted on social media, verified by AFP.”
The report also cites regional gulf sources to say the anti-government crowds are declaring that current Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “will be toppled.”
The home (now museum) of Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic, set on fire by Iranian protesters. pic.twitter.com/YLE7Fe2kAh
— Frida Ghitis (@FridaGhitis) November 18, 2022
The protests have at times gotten violent, with buildings across various cities burned down, and also with live fire used by security services to quell the unrest. Last week hardliners in parliament demanded that authorities take a harsher stance in order to finally halt the so-called “anti-hijab” demonstrations.
Likely to further fuel the anger in the streets is the increasingly harsh stance the country’s judiciary is taking toward the protests. On Thursday three more Iranians were sentenced to execution, after the first such unprecedented sentence for “rioting” was handed down earlier in the week.
According to Al Jazeera:
The Iranian judiciary said late on Sunday that an unnamed individual has been sentenced to execution for “setting fire to a government center, disturbing public order and collusion for committing crimes against national security” in addition to “moharebeh” (waging war against God) and “corruption on Earth”.
Five more unnamed people, who authorities described as “rioters” – a word the government uses to describe the ongoing protests and those participating in them – were handed between five and 10 years in prison on national security-related charges.
More such extreme penalties are expected, given that Tehran officials have long accused the protest movement of being fueled by Iran’s enemies such as Israeli and US intelligence, hence the charge of “collusion for committing crimes against national security.”
The Iranian Kurdistan region has continued to be a hotbed of unrest and anti-government demonstrations:
People chant “Ghassmlou, Ghassmlou your path continues” at the funeral of Azad Hasaanpour who was killed by Iran’s terrorist #IRGC in the Kurdish city of #Mahabad
#JinaAmini #KurdistanProtests #IranRevolution #Kurdistan #IranProtests pic.twitter.com/d5MST1j1Ew— PDKI (@PDKIenglish) November 18, 2022
At this point at least 326 people have died, including deaths among the police and security services. The White House has meanwhile said it stands in solidarity with the protesters, in what Tehran has taken as a declaration of regime change coming from the Biden administration.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 11/18/2022 – 15:03
