Despite statements from the Iranian government and the Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guards) that they have “suppressed” the protests in Iran and Eastern Kurdistan, the public is not leaving the streets. The public is protesting in each possible area.

The protests of the people in Iran and Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) against the corruption, poverty and repressive policies of the regime continued Friday night. Following calls, protests were held in the capital city of Tehran, Isfahan, Tabriz, Kermanshah, and the central provinces of Arak, Kashan, Tabriz, Qezwîn, Nishapor, Rasht and Takistan province and its towns. Many locals took to the streets to carry out protests.

In the protests in the capital Tehran, gunfire sounds were heard to the east of the province according to a report of the Sedayî Merdûm (People's Voice) page. In Zencan, while the regime forces were deployed to many points of the city, the gate of the district governorship building was broken in Arak.

In Tabriz, anti-regime slogans were chanted in a match between the Traktorsazî and Independence football teams. The slogans "Merg ber dictator" (Death to the dictatorship) and "Dishonoured" were chanted.

NEDA AXASULTAN IS REMEMBERED

After the match, the fans continued their actions without dispersing. Female activist Neda Axasultan, from Kermanshah, who was massacred by the regime in the protests in 2009, was not forgotten in the protests. The slogans of "Baharê azadî, cihê Neda xalî (Freedom is spring, but Neda's place is empty)" were chanted by activists as they commemorated Kurdish student Neda Axasultan.

SUPPORT FROM UNIONS

On the other hand, support for the protests continue being received from different circles. The Tehran Bus Drivers’ Union and the Sugar Factories Workers' Union expressed their support for the protests with their joint statement. In the statement titled "Do not use violence against the exhausted public," the following were said:

"For years, we cried out that we could not obtain the return for our labour, but there was no one who heard our voice or listened to us. At this point, people are sleeping in graveyards and taking to the trash bins to feed themselves. Again we have been struggling for years to find solutions without violence. The laws setting out the rights of workers in the constitution of Iran were even violated. Corruption and injustice has settled everywhere, the methods used by the exhausted people is not violence.”

KARROUBI’S PARTY: THE CONSEQUENCES OF VIOLENCE WILL BE GRAVE

The National Trust Party (Hizbî Îtîmadî Milî), the party of the reformist politician Mehdi Karroubi, who has been under house arrest in Iran since 2010, noted in a written statement that the regime should avoid any kind of violence against the people. In the statement titled "The consequences of violence will be grave," the following recommendations were made: "The rulers must know well that the chief responsibility of everything happening in this country is in them and they must find a solution to this.”

In Iran and Eastern Kurdistan, a total of 1,800 people have been taken into custody in public protests since December 28, 2017.