What happened on Sept. 30 is already known in Iran as 'Bloody Friday' — by far the deadliest government crackdown against protesters since demonstrations began sweeping the country nearly a month ago. The Post spoke to two eyewitnesses to the crackdown.
Thousands of worshipers had gathered on Sept. 30 in the Great Mosalla of Zahedan, a large open-air space in the southeastern Iranian city, when a handful of young men broke away and began chanting slogans at a nearby police station. One man, 28, said his 18-year-old brother was among them. He spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The Friday protest in Zahedan had been announced on social media earlier that week, in solidarity with the uprising that has gripped the nation since the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in the custody of the “morality police” on Sept. 16. But the protesters, many of them ethnic Baluch — a minority group that lives mostly in southeast Iran and across the border in Pakistan — had local motivations as well.
“The killing of children and people who were praying … I can’t see how it could be called anything else,” Mills said. The state’s response in these areas “has been particularly brutal,” said Ali Vaez, Iran project director for the International Crisis Group. He warned that the government crackdown “was further exacerbating the risk of continued turmoil.”
A 60-year-old man who lives in the Shirabad neighborhood in north Zahedan received news that his 25-year-old son had been fatally shot, and that his body was at the mosque. The man made his way there with great difficulty, asking others to help carry his son’s body home.“When we wanted to take my son’s body out, two people were shot in front of me right at the door of the Makki Mosque.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
India retail inflation picks up in Sept, suggesting further rate hikesIndia's retail inflation accelerated in September to a five-month high of 7.41% year-on-year as food prices surged, raising fears of further interest-rate hikes when the central bank meets for its next policy review in December.
Read more »
China's zero-COVID policy seen lingering as cases double from SeptChina's daily count of new coronavirus cases has doubled since September, hardening the resolve of authorities to eliminate outbreaks as quickly as they appear and dimming hopes for an easing in their zero-COVID stance.
Read more »
Fed's benchmark interest rate may peak above 5% after Sept inflation data, some economists thinkThe Federal Reserve may find it hard to slow down from its super-sized interest rate hikes if ugly inflation data persists.
Read more »
Reactions: US Sept CPI fortifies hawkish case in Fed inflation battleU.S consumer prices increased more than expected in September and underlying inflation pressures continued to build up, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve will deliver a fourth 75-basis points interest rate hike next month.
Read more »
China's Sept consumer prices rise at fastest pace since April 2020China's consumer prices in September rose at the fastest pace since April 2020, driven largely by food costs, limiting the scope for more policy easing to prop up a faltering economy hit by COVID-19 restrictions and a property sector slump.
Read more »