EA large contingent of Iranian security forces apparently prevented a planned mourning ceremony for the first anniversary of her death in Jina Mahsa Amini’s hometown on Saturday. Amini’s father Amjad Amini was temporarily arrested as he left his home in Saghes in the west of the country, according to human rights activists.
Later, the Voice of America’s Persian-language channel, citing local sources, reported that the father had returned home. According to unconfirmed information from the Iran Wire website, run by opposition figures in exile, he was placed under house arrest. Revolutionary guards therefore blocked access to the Saghes cemetery.
Amini’s parents announced a funeral service a week ago. “Like any grieving family, on the anniversary of our beloved daughter’s death, we will gather at her grave and perform the traditional religious ceremonies,” they wrote. “We call on everyone to avoid violent actions and reactions to them.”
Security forces in cemeteries
A large presence of security forces was also observed at other cemeteries in the country, including at the grave of Hamidreza Rouhi in Tehran’s main cemetery. The 19-year-old demonstrator was shot dead by security forces in November. The graves of those killed during the protests have become places of silent protest.
Smaller groups gathered for protests in several cities on Friday. Videos of this were spread via social media from Shiraz and Mashhad, among others. In Tehran, eyewitnesses reported seeing several police checkpoints. A video showed plainclothes officers on motorcycles arresting a man at Revolution Square in the capital.
The regime had already created an atmosphere of fear in the weeks leading up to the anniversary. According to the opposition information platform Harana News Agency, at least 292 activists have been arrested in the past two months. More than three thousand students were summoned and excluded from the university or from their dormitories. 31 professors were suspended from duty. 44 relatives of those killed were summoned, intimidated or arrested by security authorities.
Accusations to the United States
Sermons by pro-regime imams on Friday accused the United States of fomenting the protests. “The enemy is trying to destroy our national unity, but according to the words of our leadership, we will resolutely confront the enemy,” said Ayatollah Khatami, Tehran’s Friday preacher.
The preacher of the northern Iranian city of Rasht, Rasul Falahati, said “the enemy is beating the drum in vain because the people who were deceived last year now regret it.” He referred to a government survey that said 85 percent of Iranians support the veil requirement.
Semblance of national unity
In an attempt to create a semblance of national unity, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei held a meeting with representatives from the Sunni-majority Sistan-Baluchistan province earlier this week. His representative for the region, Mustafa Mahami, said: “The enemies were very angry that Shiites and Sunnis tearfully asked for a meeting with their leader.”
In Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province, believers demonstrated against the leadership in Tehran on Friday, as they have every week for the past year. They commemorated September 30, 2022, when at least 66 demonstrators were killed by security forces in Zahedan.
The city’s Sunni Friday preacher, Mawlawi Abdolhamid, has become one of the Islamic Republic’s most vocal critics. On Friday, he said that neither Sharia law nor the Iranian constitution allows the Revolutionary Guards to use firearms against peaceful demonstrators.
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