Iran protests and Sunni Islamist terrorist attack
Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Iran is reeling from ongoing protests. These protests were sparked by the brutal death of Masha Amini (22) – after being arrested by the Islamist morality police. Since then many other minors and protesters have been killed. Therefore, the Islamic Revolution is killing its youth.
At the same time, discontent remains concerning nationalist and religious angles. From Kurdish areas to Sistan and Baluchistan (Balochistan). Hence, the latest terrorist attack by Sunni Islamist forces in Shiraz highlights the many complexities that are rocking the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The BBC reports, “Fifteen people have been shot dead and dozens wounded in an attack at the Shah Cheragh mausoleum in the Iranian city of Shiraz, state news agency Irna says.”
It appears that one gunman loyal to the Sunni Islamist terrorist group Islamic State was responsible for the massacre of Shia Muslims. This famous Shia Muslim shrine attracts the faithful in vast numbers throughout the year.
Two Shia clerics were also brutally killed by a Sunni Islamist extremist earlier this year. The Shia clerics died from knife wounds in Mashhad.
Meanwhile, protests continue against the Iranian government in many parts of the country. The Guardian reports, “Iranian security forces have clashed with protesters who had gathered in their thousands in Mahsa Amini’s home town to mark 40 days since her death, with reports that shots were fired.”
Protesters chanted, “Death to the dictator” and “Woman, life, freedom.” Some Kurds also chanted, “Kurdistan, Kurdistan, the graveyard of fascists.”
Since protests erupted after the death of Masha, 28 minors have died at the hands of the state apparatus. Hence, over four decades since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 ushered in a new Iran, the state apparatus is killing its youth over the dress code. Of course, discontent prevails over countless issues – but the death of Masha is the catalyst for the latest bloodshed in Iran.
Masha Amini (22), Sarina Esmailzadeh (16), Hadis Najafi (22), Nika Shakarami (16), and many others should be alive and enjoying life. They were killed by the state apparatus – alongside hundreds of more people killed since the protests began.
Nika’s mother said, “Like Nika, I have been against compulsory hijab since I was a child. But my generation was not brave enough to protest… People my age accepted years of suppression, intimidation and humiliation, but my daughter protested and she had every right to do so.”
France 24 reports, “Online videos showed students protesting Tuesday at Beheshti University and the Khaje Nasir Toosi University of Technology, both in Tehran, as well as Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz. The fresh demonstrations came after activists accused security forces of beating schoolgirls at the Shahid Sadr girls vocational school in Tehran on Monday.”
Iran is facing many internal problems. However, the response to protests is all too familiar. Instead of addressing the protesters, the state apparatus is killings its youth!
The Sunni Islamist terrorist attack that killed innocent Shia worshippers – similar to the brutal murder of two Shia clerics – entails that alongside various nationalist and political issues, the government faces a myriad of complex problems.
In one popular tweet – reported in Iran International – it said, “You had ‘separated’ us for 43 years: men from women, the younger from the older generation, the Kurds from the Turks, The Luris from the Baluchis, the Persian speakers from the Gilaki speakers, … We have just united to separate the Islamic Republic and its clerics from our Iran.”
The above is the fear of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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