Further Details About Unrest In Ilam
Regime-affiliated media is coming out with information about security forces storming a hospital in the western city of Ilam and dispersing protesters with shotgun pellets and tear gas.
Previous reports from inside Iran said that security forces attacked protesters. The Norway-based NGO Hengaw accused the Iranian authorities of trying to remove the bodies of dead protesters from the hospital.
The Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), published an article claiming that protesters were using the hospital as a "barracks."
Fars claims that after security forces clashed with protesters in the city of Malekshahi on January 3, in the surrounding Ilam Province, injured protesters were transferred to Ilam's Imam Khomeini Hospital where "conditions in the hospital became inflamed."
The news agency claimed that "the clashes spread from the hospital grounds to the surrounding streets and continued until last night."
"Last night, during an operation by security forces, a number of protesters were arrested in the hospital and its surroundings," Fars claimed, adding that the conditions in the hospital are currently "almost normal."
Given Fars's affiliation with the IRGC, we are seeking independent verification from protesters inside Ilam.
Nearly 1,000 Arrests So Far, According To Iran Rights Monitor
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a US-based nonprofit that monitors human rights violations in Iran has been providing daily updates on the protests on their website.
In its latest report, HRANA says that over the past eight days, there have been protests, street gatherings, or strikes in at least 222 locations in 78 cities across 26 provinces of the country. Seventeen universities, according to the organization, have also been the scene of student protests.
The report says that at least 990 citizens have been arrested during this period and at least 19 protesters have lost their lives. (Other reports claim the numbers of arrested and killed are higher.) According to HRANA, 51 injuries have been recorded so far, mostly from shotgun pellets and rubber bullets.
In the past 24 hours, dozens of cities, including Tehran, Shiraz, Tabriz, Mashhad, Kermanshah, and Bandar Abbas, have witnessed demonstrations or have seen the introduction of security forces into the area.
The Kurdpa news agency, which reports from Kurdish areas in Iran, also reported that at least 30 people were injured during January 4 protests in Malekshahi.
Due to the reporting restrictions for Western media in Iran, it is not possible to independently verify the exact number of dead and injured.
Writers Association Comes Out In Support Of Protesters
Iran's Writers Association, a banned organization whose members have been persecuted by the state, issued a statement supporting the country's "unquestionable right to protest."
The statement calls on all freedom-loving writers, artists, and like-minded organizations around the world to "not allow the government to once again fill prisons and cemeteries with protesters."
The Writers'Association emphasized that Iran "built its foundation on the killing, torture, and imprisonment of opponents, critics, and freedom-seekers" and has always "immediately stifled" the voice of any protest.
In the statement, the association said that the Iranian government has once again "opened fire on protesters, attacked hospitals to kidnap the wounded, and carried out [many] arrests."
The Writers Association wrote that the number of deaths and arrests in Iran is increasing every day.
Son Of The Shah Publishes List Of Protesters Killed
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was ousted in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has published on X a list of protesters he says have been killed in the ongoing protests in Iran. He wrote, "I assure you that the perpetrators of these crimes will be identified and punished without a doubt."
Pahlavi lives in the US and advocates for regime change in Iran.
Protests Continued Last Night
Reports and videos published on social media indicate that on the evening of January 4, nationwide protests in Iran continued for the eighth consecutive day. In numerous cities, there were street rallies and protests by civilians and clashes with security forces.
Videos posted online and obtained by RFE/RL's Radio Farda showed that protests continued in the Iranian cities of Tehran, Yasuj, Ilam, and Fardis, while fires burned in the streets of Mashhad and Mahallat on January 3.
According to reports from inside Iran, clashes between protesters and counter-riot forces have been particularly intense in the western city of Ilam, to the point where security forces stormed the city's Imam Khomeini Hospital and dispersed protesters.
Video appearing to be from Ilam show security forces firing tear gas at protesters.
Eyewitnesses in Ilam say that the number of security forces in some parts of the city has reached more than 150 people -- and there have been shots fired at protests, although it is unclear what weapons or ammunition was used.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency has reported the arrest of at least 17 citizens, including a teenager, in the broader Ilam Province region.