Demonstration in Balochistan to commemorate “Bloody Friday”

Hundreds demonstrated in Baluchistan province, southeastern Iran, yesterday, to commemorate the one-month anniversary of a security crackdown that human rights groups say resulted in dozens of deaths, and was called “Bloody Friday,” while the British Foreign Office said it had summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires because of what was reported. For threats made by Tehran to journalists in London.

UN human rights experts also called on Tehran to stop bringing charges that carry the death penalty against those involved in the protests rocking Iran.

According to the Oslo-based Human Rights Organization in Iran, at least 304 people have been killed across Iran since protests erupted following the death of a young Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, on September 16. The organization confirmed that about a third of those were killed in Balochistan, including at least 92 people who died on September 30, which activists called “Bloody Friday.”

Protest rallies were renewed in Zahedan and the cities of Chabahar, Iranshahr, Kash, Taftan, Rask and Saravan in Balochistan province bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Video recordings showed a mass demonstration after Friday prayers in Zahedan, and men who left mosques after Friday prayers chanted “Death to Khamenei,” according to a video recording published by the Human Rights Organization in Iran, “Death to the Revolutionary Guards” and “Death to the Basij.” The protesters also chanted “Damn Khomeini” and “Death to the dictator,” according to a video posted on Twitter.

And a hail of bullets was heard in a video recording from the city of Iranshahr, and the security forces used tear gas in the city of Khash, according to a video recording published by the “1500 Photography” channel on the Internet.