On Thursday, Iran was plunged into a complete internet blackout as the protests against economic conditions spread nationwide, which is increasing pressure on the country’s leadership. Reports suggest that Iranian security forces have killed 45 protestors since December 28, when the protests initially began.
It is unclear what caused the internet blackout. The blackout was first reported by the internet freedom monitor NetBlocks. However, in the past Iranian regime has blocked the internet in response to protests.
Outages were reported by NetBlocks in the western city of Kermanshah earlier on Thursday, as the crackdown against protestors was intensified. On Thursday, the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said that at least 45 protestors had been killed by the Iranian security forces. The killed protestors included eight children.
On Thursday, calls for a general strike were given by seven different Kurdish political groups, which were heeded by shopkeepers. The shopkeepers closed their doors in Kurdish regions and dozens of other cities around Iran.
The protest movement currently shows no sign of abating, and the demonstrations have reached all 31 provinces.
The protestors in the southern Fars province pulled down the statue of the former senior Revolutionary Guards al-Quds force commander Qassem Suleimani. Suleimani is considered a hero by the government and its supporters.
According to the Iran Human Rights (IHR), Wednesday was the bloodiest day of the current 12-day movement. The NGO reports that the scope ofthe crackdown is becoming more and more extensive and violent every day. The director of IHR, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, added that hundreds more have been injured and more than 2,000 arrested.
Other than protestors their also been reports of police officers being killed. On Wednesday, a police officer was killed west of Thran for trying to control unrest.
Also read: Is Iran heading towards regime change?
