A ball of fire glows between the well-known brick gates in the village of Khomein. The house where one of the most important symbols of the Islamic Republic grew up has recently been open to most people in Iran. Now there are visible flames out in the courtyard, and protesters have gathered along the pavement. They cheer and cheer. Based on two video clips that have been widely circulated on social media, Reuters has confirmed that it is Khomeini’s house that is on fire, but not when it was filmed. Activists in Iran say that the video is from Thursday evening, and that the house was set on fire by protesters. The news agency AFP writes that they have verified this. Protesters are said to have also set fire to this sign in the city of Fuladshahr in western Iran. Photo: OBTAINED BY REUTERS / Reuters The Tasnim news agency, which supports the Iranian authorities, however, denies that the house was on fire, claims that it is all a lie. Iranians still flock to the streets and shout “Death to the dictator.” Death to Khamenei.” Demonstrators across Iran have been demanding an end to the regime since 16 September. It was then that the Iranian-Kurdish Mahsa Amini (22) died after being arrested by the Iranian morality police, because they thought she was wearing the wrong hijab. Several protesters sentenced to death The protesters have been fighting for more than two months. In connection with them, 342 have been killed, 43 of them children, according to Iran Human Rights (IHR). – The regime has not been able to control the protests despite the violence they have used. When they shoot, we still see the day after that the people come out, says IHR leader Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. – So the barrier of fear that Iran’s regime has invested in for so many years, with the use of the death penalty and repression and censorship, it has crumbled. At least 14,000 protesters have been arrested. The parliament in Iran has signed a statement asking the courts to deal with the protesters “firmly”. – What we are concerned about is that those who are arrested are sentenced to death. According to official news sources, at least five people have been sentenced. The shops are in Tehran Bazaar due to the latest wave of demonstrations, according to Reuters. Photo: WANA NEWS AGENCY / Reuters At the weekend, the Iranian court handed down its first death penalty since the demonstrations began. The person who was killed was convicted, among other things, of “assembly and conspiracy with the intention of committing an offense against national security”, of “being an enemy of God” and of “corruption on earth”. The judgment is not legally binding. According to Iran Human Rights, at least 19 men and one woman have received charges that could lead to the death penalty, and believe the real number is higher. – Does not skimp on symbols No protest has lasted this long since the Iranian revolution in 1979, when Khomeini took power. A few years ago, the slightest insult to the Islamic Republic’s leaders, and especially Khomeini, was “a red line no one crossed”, says Amiry-Moghaddam. Now it is no longer about individual cases such as the hijab ban and the morality police, but the foundation for the entire regime, he says. – Khomeini has been the symbol of everything the Islamic Republic stands for, in every way. We have seen pictures of him being burned and statues of him being destroyed. Ruhollah Khomeini was in power in Iran until he died in 1989. Photo: Raheb Homavandi / Reuters – These are symbolic actions that show that people in Iran distance themselves from the entire concept of the regime that Khomeini founded. According to Amiry-Moghaddam, this phase of the demonstrations can be considered “the start of a revolution”. – No symbolism has been spared here, that is very clear. People do not want the Islamic Republic. Don’t know who is behind shooting attacks Since Amini died, the demonstrations in Iran have gained many new faces on social media. Two of these must be children who were killed in the shooting episode on Wednesday, according to AFP. Videos and pictures of the youngest victim, a 9 or 10-year-old boy, have been published by state media and human rights organisations, but not verified. In total, nine people have been killed in two separate attacks in the village of Izeh. A large crowd gathered in the village for a joint funeral on Friday, according to AFP. The victims of the shooting in the village of Izeh were buried today. Photo: ALIREZA MOHAMMADI / AFP It is still unknown who is behind the attack. The witness describes a group of people on motorbikes, who, among other things, shot into the crowd at a market. The demonstrations increased in strength on Tuesday, according to The Guardian, to commemorate “bloody November” in 2019. It was the month several hundred people were killed in protests against high petrol prices in Iran.
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