People face teargas, pellet guns and violence as protests continue and opposition parties call for general strike
Demonstrations over economic conditions broke out in Kurdish regions of Iran on Wednesday despite authorities using violence to try to disperse protests before an announced general strike, according to witnesses and rights groups.
Protesters took to the streets across Kurdish cities in western Iran, with shopkeepers shutting down stores and demonstrators chanting against government corruption. People said they were met with force as authorities fired teargas, pellet guns and what demonstrators said were live bullets at crowds.
“They are killing us. They’re showing no mercy. In Kermanshah, we’ve all come out, we’re all under pressure. At noon in the square they beat a woman so badly she couldn’t stand up. I’m begging all the people of Iran, let’s all rise up together,” said a 35-year-old female protester in the Mossadegh area of, Kermanshah, a Kurdish city in western Iran, her voice breaking over the crackle of gunfire as she spoke.
Demonstrations are continuing to spread across Iran as the protest movement, initially sparked by a sudden nosedive in the value of the Iranian rial, enters its 11th day. Though increasing in size, they have not yet reached the size of previous movements such as the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests, which saw popular anger erupt after the 22-year-old woman died in police custody.
