Huge anti-government protests in Tehran and other Iranian cities

[Twiglets1]

Huge crowds of protesters have been marching through Iran's capital and other cities, videos show, in what is said to be the largest show of force by opponents of the clerical establishment in years.

The peaceful demonstrations in Tehran and the second city of Mashhad on Thursday evening, which were not dispersed by security forces, can be seen in footage verified by BBC Persian.

Later, a monitoring group reported a nationwide internet blackout.

Protesters can be heard in the footage calling for the overthrow of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the return of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the late former shah, who had urged his supporters to take to the streets.

It was the 12th consecutive day of unrest that has been sparked by anger over the collapse of the Iranian currency and has spread to more than 100 cities and towns across all 31 of Iran's provinces, according to human rights groups.

The US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) has said at least 34 protesters - five of them children - and eight security personnel have been killed, and that 2,270 other protesters have been arrested.

Norway-based monitor Iran Human Rights (IHR) has said at least 45 protesters, including eight children, have been killed by security forces.

BBC Persian has confirmed the deaths and identities of 22 people, while Iranian authorities have reported the deaths of six security personnel.

Iranian state media downplayed the scale of Thursday's unrest. In some cases, they denied protests had taken place altogether, posting videos of empty streets.

Meanwhile, internet watchdog NetBlocks said its metrics showed that Iran was "in the midst of a nationwide internet blackout".

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg7y0579lp8o

Lindsay Hilsum on Xtwitter said that the reason MSM were not covering Iran was because the BBC and C4 and CNN and the like
do not have reporter access to Iran.

When asked why that did not stop wall to wall coverage of what was happening inside Gaza
she sescribed the Hamas sources as "colleagues"
and then blocked everybody who called out her hypocricy.

Iranians wanting rid of Islamists does not fit the chosen narrative.

The BBC used local journalists as contractors in Gaza who I'm sure many did consider to be their "colleagues".

Unfortunately some Gazan journalists were subsequently found to have links to Hamas. Which has been a contentious thing to say on some threads but hopefully not this one.

Bloody hell.

Its bs anyway. I have an Iranian friend in exile who, until a day or two ago had plenty of access to information.

The World Service is much, much better than other BBC platforms in dealing with this with depth and proper attention to the history and the current circumstances etc. Especially the programme 'Weekend' from 6-9 on Sats and Suns and broken into chunks of just under an hour on Sounds. They get a wide variety of guests and look at big stories with good, informed discussion rather than just reporting. Just FYI.
It's heartbreaking and the Iranians are immensely brave and I hope with every fibre of my being that this results in huge change this time, and good change not power-vacuum lurching from frying pan to fire. And I hope they do it without Trump's help just because I don't think Trump's help ever comes without poisoned strings attached.
@SharonEllis and @HepzibahGreen I really appreciate your posts (on this thread and elsewhere too). 💞

My daughter’s best friend is Iranian. She still goes to Iran as her Bibi and uncle are still there. She messaged me and said, “We haven’t been able to get in touch with my uncle, who usually finds a way of getting round an internet ban somehow….”

So I think access to information has been difficult. If I was Iranian I think I would find this quite frightening.

I got out of the habit of listening to the World Service quite a few years ago but you're right,its much better.

Its bloody terrifying but there are no braver people on the planet.

The last time I saw a picture of that balcony it had an SAS soldier on it.

Sorry to hear this is a worrying time for your daughter and especially her friend.

I did read that even Starlink is being affected now by the internet crackdown. An expert on Iran suggested mobile jammers may be being used to disrupt satellite television receivers.

It is really terrifying that the Iranian state are trying to keep the whole country dark so they can commit their atrocities out of sight.
I certainly hope that no European country allows any of the Mullahs who are running away any kind of asylum. They should all be treated as the war criminals they are.

Completely agree, and anyone who else who propped up that barbarous regime.

Wow, but not surprised in the slightest.

BBC TV news yesterday were still framing uprising as " cost of living protests". Editors are either completely dense or liars.

A lot of poor language being used in the media with words like 'crackdown" being used instead of what it is.....a massacre.

God knows how many have actually died recently.

The news is getting out about hundreds of protesters being massacred but others still bravely continuing their fight to overthrow the authoritarian regime. Even if the BBC choose to downplay it as a protest about the cost of living crisis, the truth comes out.

I think its odd they are still talking about 'hundreds' killed. We know the problems of verification but they should be more honest about the scale.

True. Anecdotal evidence coming out of hospitals etc suggest the figure is way higher than the 500 or so being officially counted.

I'm not sure if it's being 'minimised', or not given the importance it deserves or if the BBC just aren't that interested. It's bizarre given tgat stories that are being shared on other outlets show 500 dead at least and over 10,000 arrested.

The current news story on now really seems quite reluctant to criticise the leadership of Iran. Gentle, gentle talk whilst showing protesters en masses.

The truth will come out eventually, they can’t keep the internet down forever in Iran.

I think it will be horrifying when the actual number of those killed in these protests is known. The leadership can’t silence the whole population, especially as they don’t have public support to sustain their lies.

I think it's more because the BBC has to cover it's arse more than other organisations with its history and being basically the state broadcaster. I may be being generous though. I know I tend to have a pro BBC bias as I grew up when it was pretty much all there was so I have a lifelong attachment to it.
As I said earlier, they are much more telling it like it is on the World Service. News Channel is the dumbed down version of the BBC, World Service is much better.

Anyone else hoping for regime change in Iran but also worried that the ensuing Iranian diaspora would be very different from the current Iranian diaspora? The West already has a problem with Iranian-sponsored terrorism and assassinations, the government has not prescribed the IRGC, all the hardliners and zealots fleeing the country will genuinely be able to claim they need asylum from Iran, and then they will be fomenting violence and anti-Westenism here.

Any journalist or citizen journalist getting information out of Gaza had to be in Hamas, a Hamas sympathiser or terrified of crossing Hamas, and yet the BBC was happy to broadcast hours of that footage with no warning that Hamas was effectively controlling what we were seeing. Now it's Iran they have suddenly become all pious about veracity and bias.

We've also had two years of the BBC and other news organisations constantly reminding us in every report and every article that Israel isn't allowing journalists into Gaza unless they are embedded with the IDF. Journalists base themselves in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem because Israel is the one place in the Middle East where journalists are safe to live and work, and yet Israel is somehow the big bad censor. Meanwhile Iran is so dangerous for foreign journalists that when an attempted revolution is underway there is no-one there to cover it. Are they reminding us that Iran made itself too scary for journalists with every report? No.

Isn’t footage coming out just about with Starlink?

I heard a bit this morning but haven’t looked into it

Yes, its a genuine problem. We need to get on with proscription asap but that's a tiny part of the issue.