The other arrested foreigners come from France, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland and Sweden. They are accused of either taking part directly in the system-critical protests in Iran or acting in the background, according to the intelligence ministry. Further details on the arrested foreigners were not given. According to the secret service, several embassies, including those of Germany, France and Great Britain, are under surveillance.
In addition, 256 members of banned opposition groups were arrested, the ministry said. Human rights groups also reported the detention of dozens of activists, students and artists, as well as Kurdish separatist groups. Also, some Iranians working for foreign media were either taken into custody or summoned and interrogated. The Committee to Protect Journalists wrote on Twitter that the security forces had arrested at least 28 journalists as of September 29. According to the state news agency IRNA, former Iranian soccer player Hossein Manahi was also taken into custody on Friday after he supported the protests in the online networks.
The country, which has been ruled by Islamists since the 1979 revolution, is experiencing an unprecedented wave of protests that have developed since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. Amini was arrested by the vice squad for violating the headscarf rule. The moral police had arrested her because of her allegedly “un-Islamic outfit”. What exactly happened to Amini after that is unclear. The Kurd had fallen into a coma and died in a hospital on September 16. Critics accuse the morality police of using violence. The police firmly deny the allegations.
Many deaths in protests
Since the young woman’s death, thousands of people have been demonstrating across the country against the repressive course of the government and the security forces, as well as against the Islamic system. According to official figures, 41 people died. The semi-official Iranian news agency Fars reported around 60 deaths. The human rights organization Amnesty International said the Iranian government had killed at least 52 people and injured hundreds in its crackdown on the demonstrations. In Germany, leading politicians from the FDP and the Greens have called for personal sanctions against representatives of the regime in Tehran.
According to Iranian state media, 19 people were killed in clashes in southeastern Iran. Regional Governor Hossein Chiabani said Ali Mousavi, a colonel in the Revolutionary Guards, was among the dead in Sistan-Balochistan province. Mousavi is responsible for the secret services in the province. 20 people were injured in the riots. According to regional police chief Achmed Taheri, three police stations were attacked.
Protests in the city of Sahedan in southeastern Iran
London-based television channel Iran International aired footage Friday from the southeastern city of Sahedan that appeared to show police officers firing their guns at men who were attacking a police station. Also seen were men with bleeding wounds lying on stretchers. Sahedan is the capital of Sistan-Balochistan province.
Order to shoot in Masandaran province?
Amnesty International accused the Iranian authorities of deliberately using deadly force to quell the protests. According to an official document leaked to the human rights organization, the commander of the armed forces in Masandaran province instructed his subordinates to “act mercilessly, even to the point of causing death, against any kind of unrest by rioters and anti-revolutionaries”.
kle/wa (afp, rtr, dpa)
