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Iranians Renew Call For Regime Change At Demonstrations To Mark Protesters' Executions

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Videos published on social networks showed gatherings in several Tehran neighborhoods with people chanting, "We will stand till the end!" and, "Death to the dictator!"
Videos published on social networks showed gatherings in several Tehran neighborhoods with people chanting, "We will stand till the end!" and, "Death to the dictator!"

Demonstrators across Iran have called again for regime change as they marked the end of a 40-day mourning period for Mohammad Hosseini and Mohammad Mehdi Karimi, two men executed in Tehran's notorious Evin prison during ongoing nationwide protests.

Videos published on social networks showed gatherings in several Tehran neighborhoods with people chanting, "We will stand till the end!" and, "Death to the dictator!" -- a reference to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.


Hosseini, 39, was convicted of killing a member of Iran's paramilitary forces as mourners demonstrated in a city outside the Iranian capital in November amid a wave of protests that engulfed Iran after the death in September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman, in police custody after being arrested for "improperly" wearing a Muslim head scarf.

Kurdish-Iranian Karimi, 22, was convicted for alleged involvement in the killing of a paramilitary militiaman during protests in Karaj following Amini's death.

Hosseini and Karimi were both hanged on January 7.

In recent weeks, protesters have turned the end of the traditional 40-day mourning periods following a protester's death into a stage for anti-government demonstrations.

Reports also indicate that protesters in Sanandaj, the capital of the western Iranian province of Kurdistan, blocked a street by setting a fire. Amini was from Saqez, a town near Sanandaj.


Similar scenes were reported in other Iranian cities, including Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, and Arak.


Since Amini's death, Iranians have flooded streets across the country to protest against a lack of rights, with women and schoolgirls making unprecedented shows of support in the biggest threat to Iran's theocratic regime since the 1979 revolution.

In response, authorities have launched a brutal crackdown on dissent, detaining thousands and handing down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said that, as of January 29, at least 527 people had been killed during the unrest, including 71 minors, as security forces muzzle dissent.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

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