Iran Protests Escalate: New Demonstrations Erupt Despite Internet Blackout and Crackdown Fears
By: Abudu Olalekan
Folks, things are really heating up over in Iran again. Seriously. It’s the same old story, but somehow it feels… heavier this time. Overnight, people hit the streets. Again. Despite the big, giant internet shutoff. You know, the one where they just pull the plug on everyone talking to the outside world? Yeah, that one.
Rights groups, they ain’t holding back their words. They’re saying it’s a full-on “massacre” happening to keep these protests down. A massacre. Big word. Makes you stop and think, don’t it? These protests, started kinda small, ’bout the price of bread and all that living cost craziness. But now? Nah. It’s grown. It’s a real middle finger to the whole theocratic setup they got there since ’79. That’s a long time, man. Two whole weeks of this now. Crazy staying power.
It’s one of the biggest headaches for the big boss man, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He’s old, eighty-six, and this ain’t what he wants, I bet. Especially after that dust-up with Israel back in June, with the US backing them. Just simmering under the surface, it seems.
And the proof? It’s trickling out. Social media is a weird place right now. Stuff gets posted, then gone. But videos are floating around. Big crowds in Tehran, the capital. And Mashhad, way out east. Hear tell they even set some cars on fire. You don’t do that unless you’re proper fed up, right?
That internet blackout? It’s been going on for like, sixty-plus hours now. Netblocks, those internet watchers, they said it’s a real danger to people. A direct threat when the future of the country’s hanging in the balance. Hard to get any clear picture when the phone lines are dead and WhatsApp ain’t working. It’s like going back in time, only with more danger.
Then there’s the really grim stuff. Videos, unconfirmed by the big news wires like AFP, showing folks in a Tehran morgue. Just trying to identify their dead relatives. Chilling. Absolutely chilling.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, based in the US, they’re saying they got confirmations. Over a hundred people dead because of these street fights. And get this, that number includes some of the security guys too. It’s messy. Another group in Norway, Iran Human Rights, they’re supposed to drop a new report later today. We’ll see what that says.
But the activists are screaming that the information blackout is hiding the real numbers. They think the actual body count is way, way higher. The Centre for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), another US group, they’re getting firsthand stories. Eyewitnesses. Reports saying hundreds are dead since the internet went dark.
Hospitals, they say, are just swamped. No more blood supplies. And this part is nasty: they’re hearing protesters got shot in the eyes. Deliberate tactic, they say. To blind them, maybe? Just brutal stuff.
The government guy, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, he had a little chat with state TV Saturday night. He tried to spin it, saying the “vandalism” was going down. He warned anyone leading the protests to “destruction, chaos and terrorist acts” ain’t letting the real people be heard. Typical line, ain’t it? Blame the troublemakers.
Meanwhile, over in exile, Reza Pahlavi, the Shah’s boy, he’s been a big voice calling for these protests. He put out a message for folks to keep at it Sunday. Said, “Don’t leave the streets. My heart is with you. I know that I will soon be by your side.” Powerful words from across the water. It gives some hope, I suppose. But being on the street when the army’s out with live rounds? That takes guts. Real guts. It’s a tense situation, and frankly, it’s terrifying to watch from afar. Reportersroom will keep tracking this mess.
