Iranian Mullah regime threatens families of slain protesters

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Iranian security forces have threatened the mothers and families of men and women who were shot and killed during nationwide protests in November 2019.

In a tweet, the mother of slain protester Pouya Bakhtiyari wrote that her home was raided and her personal belongings including her smartphone were confiscated.

“They thought by raiding my home and taking my mobile and personal belongings they could silence my call for justice, but they were wrong,” she wrote in a tweet on October 17.

Other family members of slain protesters wrote in their Instagram accounts that they were threatened by intelligence agents.

An Iranian reporter, Mahrokh Gholamhosseinpour, also wrote in a tweet that families of slain protesters were called and summoned by security forces. Mahrokh wrote that at least six mothers of slain protesters were called as the anti-government November protests anniversary draws close.

“Security forces have called most family members of slain protesters and have quietly summoned them for tomorrow. At least six mothers of slain protesters told me the same happened last year, near the November protests anniversary. They give notices to the families or in some instances even (force them) to give pledges in fear that they will hold ceremonies or speak to the media,” Mahrokh wrote in her tweet.

This is not the first time that family members of slain protesters of the anti-government November 2019 protests are threatened.

In July, the Karaj Revolutionary Court sentenced Manouchehr Bakhtiyari, civil activist and father to slain protester Pouya Bakhtiyari, to three years and six months of prison, among other sentences for seeking justice for his slain son. He was detained for 77 days from April 29, and his family had no information about his whereabouts. He was arrested and beaten in his home in Tehran by security forces.

November 2019 government crackdown

Anti-government protests swept across Iran in November 2019 when the prices of gasoline tripled overnight. Within the span of 3-4 days, government forces slaughtered men, women, and even children who were on the streets and implemented an internet blackout to prevent footage and images from leaking to the outside world.

The Paris-based NCRI, an umbrella bloc of opposition groups in exile that seek an end to Iran’s clerical rule, said in a December 15, 2019 report that over 1,*500 civilians were killed during the protests.

Later, in a December 23 report, Reuters said Iranian interior ministry officials also stated that 1500 protesters were killed during the three to four days of protests across the country. According to the report, Khamenei gathered his top security and government officials together and issued an order: Do whatever it takes to stop them.

Iranian officials denied Reuters’ death toll and after seven months, implying that about 200 to 225 people were killed.

Amnesty International said in March that 23 children were among those gunned down on the streets in November 2019.

In May, Iran’s National Organization for Civil Registration released data showing the death toll for autumn of 2019. According to Mahan Ghafari, an Iranian researcher at Oxford University who studied the report, the Organization recorded over 7,500 more deaths than usual. Most of the extra deaths occurred in November.

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