Activists fear an alarming increase in Iranian forces cracking down on activists across Kurdish regions in Iran.
Electricity was cut in the Kurdish town of Mahabad in western Iran over the weekend and the streets erupted in gunfire. Human Rights groups allege that Iranian forces were firing on civilian protesters under the cover of darkness.
Activists on Sunday expressed alarm that Iran was implementing a major crackdown in a Kurdish-populated town that has seen intense anti-regime protests in the last few days.
Reinforcements of the security forces were sent to the city of Mahabad in western Iran, rights groups said, while images and audio files of heavy gunfire and screams were posted overnight.
Iran’s clerical leadership has been shaken by more than two months of protests sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year old woman of Kurdish origin who had been arrested by the Tehran morality police.
The very first protests took place in Kurdish-populated areas of Iran including at Amini’s funeral in her home town of Saqez, before spreading nationwide.
Rights groups had earlier posted footage of defiant protests in Mahabad, including after the funerals of victims of the state’s crackdown on the protests, with people staging sit-ins in the streets and setting up barricades.
The Gateway Pundit has reported on the massive the protests occurring in Iran in response to Mahsa Amini’s death from injuries sustained after her arrest for the “improper” wearing of a hijab. The first protests came from Kurdish-populated areas of Iran following Amini’s death.
The regime’s brutality spread to additional areas including Javanroud, where protests were held in support of the Mahabad region.