In 1979, a combination of mass protests and strikes by oil workers and bazaar merchants helped to sweep the clergy to power in Iran’s Islamic revolution.
On Saturday, activist HRANA news agency said sit-down strikes and protests were taking place on two dozen campuses in the capital, Tehran, and in major cities including Isfahan, Tabriz and Shiraz with slogans including “Freedom, freedom, freedom”.
Kurdish rights group Hengaw posted videos purporting to show security forces shooting at protesters in the town of Divandarreh, killing one protester. Reuters could not verify the videos.
HRANA said 402 protesters had been killed in the unrest as of Friday, including 58 minors. Some 54 members of the security forces were also killed, it added. More than 16,800 people have been arrested, it said.
State media said last month that more than 46 security forces, including police, had been killed. Government officials have not provided an estimate of any wider death count.
Iran’s hardline judiciary has sentenced five protesters to death and said it will put on trial more than 2,000 people indicted for unrest, intensifying efforts to crush weeks of demonstrations.
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