Thousands of people took to the streets in Germany to show their support for the Iranian protest movement. According to the police, 5,000 people were present at several rallies in Berlin alone. In Hamburg, the police spoke of 4,000 demonstrators, in Frankfurt am Main of around 2,800. They were protesting against the system of government in Iran and the systematic discrimination against women there.
Demonstrators in Berlin carry pictures of allegedly killed Iranian demonstrators
In Hamburg, participants shouted “Gone, gone, gone – mullahs have to go” and “Women want freedom”. In Frankfurt, demonstrators followed the slogans of the protests in Iran with “Woman – Life – Freedom”. A spokesman for a group of Iranian exiles in Berlin called for an end to the bloodshed and democratic reforms in the country. In view of the current acts of violence, the German government must issue new sanctions, primarily against Iran’s elites, he demanded.
Ongoing protest actions in Iran
The protests critical of the regime continued across the country on Saturday in Iran. According to eyewitnesses, thousands of demonstrators blocked several main streets in the capital Tehran and chanted slogans against the political leadership of the Islamic Republic. Women took off their headscarves and shouted “Freedom, freedom”. There were clashes with the police in some parts of the city. Police forces are said to have used tear gas against demonstrators. The protests led to significant traffic jams in several parts of the capital. Many drivers seemed to show solidarity with the demonstrators and honked their horns.
Violent riots broke out on Friday in the city of Sahedan in the south-east of the country. 19 people were killed, including at least three members of the local Revolutionary Guards. 20 others were seriously injured. Because of the increasing willingness to use violence on both sides, there are fears among the population that the incident in Sahedan could be repeated in other parts of the country.
The demonstrations were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini two weeks ago. The moral police had arrested her because of her allegedly “un-Islamic outfit”. What happened to Amini after that is unclear. The woman went into a coma and died in a hospital on September 16. Critics accuse the morality police of using violence; the police deny it. 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.
kle/wa (dpa, afp)
