Protests Continue to Widen, Iranian Authorities Tried 1.000 People for Riots in Revolutionary Court

Protests against Mahsa Amini's death in Iran. (Wikimedia Commons/Darafsh)

JAKARTA - Iran's hardline court will hold public trials of about 1.000 people charged over riots in Tehran, the semi-official news agency said on Monday, intensifying efforts to stop weeks of protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody. police.

One of the boldest challenges to Iran's clerical leaders since the 1979 Revolution, the nearly seven-week protests persist despite the deadly crackdown and increasingly harsh warnings, with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) bluntly telling demonstrators to stay away from the streets.

Iran's leaders have vowed to take tough action against protesters they describe as rioters, blaming foes including the United States for fomenting the unrest.

Protesters from all walks of life have taken part, with students and women playing a prominent role, waving and burning headscarves since Amini died in the custody of the moral police who arrested her for "inappropriate dress", reported Reuters on November 1.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing Tehran's Supreme Court Justice, said trials of about 1.000 people "who have carried out acts of sabotage in recent events, including attacking or killing security guards, (and) burning public property" will be held at the Revolutionary Court. .

The trial had been scheduled for this week and would be held in public, he said.

It was not immediately clear whether the 1.000 charges announced on Monday, including the 315 protesters the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday, had been indicted in Tehran, with at least five of them accused of serious offences.

Earlier, raising warnings against the protesters, Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) commander Hossein Salami warned them on Saturday last week, not to take to the streets, declaring it the "last day of unrest".

Separately, Saeid Golkar of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga said the warning was a clear message that Iran saw the protests "as an event that seriously threatens the regime". The continued protests are "a sign that people are more determined to challenge the regime than in the past," he explained.

"Unfortunately, history has shown us that they are willing to use any level of violence to stay in power."

The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Iran's elite military and security force, have not been used to quell the unrest. So far, the authorities have mostly used riot police and volunteer Basij militia to crush the protests.

Kantor berita aktivis HRANA mengatakan hingga Hari Minggu 284 pengunjuk rasa telah tewas dalam kerusuhan, termasuk 45 anak di bawah umur. Sekitar 36 anggota pasukan keamanan juga tewas.

Diketahui, media pemerintah melaporkan bahwa WhatsApp dan Instagram - keduanya dimiliki oleh Meta Platform akan terus diblokir, menuduh perusahaan gagal bekerja sama "dengan hukum pemerintah".

Iran telah memblokir kedua aplikasi, yang digunakan untuk berbagi video demonstrasi, sejak awal protes.