Demonstration continued in Iranian universities Sunday as people are preparing for three days of protest rallies in honor of over 1,500 protesters killed by security forces in November 2019.
Grassroot groups have called for protests across the country for November 15, 16, and 17 while most of the action on Sunday was taking place at numerous campuses with students staging sit-ins and cancelling classes in solidarity with the revolt against the Islamic Republic regime.
Students chanted slogans and sang along songs in protest to the detention and expulsion of their classmates, as well as against the bloody crackdown on the popular protests.
Moreover, a group of more than 70 faculty members and professors of Babol Noshirvani University of Technology in northern Iran, issued a letter on Sunday, demanding an end to entry bans and suspensions of students, as well as ensuring their security in the university and dormitories.
In addition to university students, many schoolchildren held rallies as they leave their schools, chanting slogans against the regime and its rulers.
In a joint call by the Youth of Tabriz, Zanjan, Esfahan, Mashhad, Ahvaz, Gorgan and Babol have urged people to pour into the streets on the anniversary of those killed in November 2019 on Tuesday. “We will start from high schools, universities and markets and continue with neighborhood-centered gatherings to move to main squares of cities,” read part of the statement.
A series of nationwide protests in Iran, sometimes known as Bloody November, took place in 2019. Initially triggered by a 50 to 200-percent increase in fuel prices, the demonstrations quickly turned into calls for the overthrow of the government and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. According to a report by a rights group, at least 3,000 protesters were killed by the Islamic Republic security forces from November 15 to 17, and nearly 20,000 arrested. Reuters at the time reported 1,500 deaths.
Since the current uprising began against Iran’s clerical regime almost two months ago, following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody, numerous calls have been issued by groups, institutions, guilds, and associations for demonstrations, gatherings, and strikes.
Also on Sunday, Iran's judiciary charged more than 750 people in three provinces for participating in "recent riots." More than 2,000 people had already been charged, nearly half of them in the capital Tehran, since the demonstrations began in mid-September. They face accusations including "incitement to murder", "harming security forces", "propaganda against the regime" and "damaging public property", the judiciary's Mizan Online news website reported.
After a threat by hardliner lawmakers earlier in the month asking that protesters be sentenced to death, the Judiciary signaled its intention to do just that on November 8.
So far at least 326 protesters – including 43 minors-- have been killed and tens of thousands arrested, although the government has not issued any figures.
On Saturday, diaspora Iranians in Europe, North America and elsewhere held rallies to condemn the Islamic Republic for brutality against antigovernment protesters.
Coupled with the activism of the Iranian diaspora and the calls with rallies to mark the anniversary of Bloody November, the UN Human Rights Council is set to hold a special session the following week over the Islamic Republic heavy-handed clampdown.
In a phone conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres Thursday night, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned of the “negative consequences” of the UNHRC’s meeting.