According to reports, protests by the people that began on December 28 have now spread to more than 200 cities. People are bravely standing up to government forces and in some places have pushed them back. In Tehran, demonstrations are very extensive and have covered many areas of the city. Protests and demonstrations are also taking place in Mashhad, Shiraz, Isfahan, Tabriz, Zahedan, and other cities.
The people are determined to rid themselves of repression, imprisonment, and plunder by the ruling system. Today, in dozens of cities—including Izeh, Kermanshah, Gilangharb, and at least 20 locations in Tehran—people took to the streets, chanted anti-government slogans, and in some areas clashed with government forces, maintaining control of the locations for hours. Protesters have attacked and targeted regime symbols during the demonstrations.
Today, Saturday, January 10, in parts of Tehran including Saadat Abad, Nazi Abad, Chitgar, Heravi, and Aryashahr, as well as in the cities of Rasht, Isfahan, Shiraz, Qazvin, Tabriz, Kazerun, Ramsar, Kermanshah, and Qom, popular protests continued with chants of “Death to the Dictator,” with significant crowds participating.
According to reports tonight, in Neyshabur one of the protesters named Akram Pirgazi was killed during popular protests in the city after being directly shot by suppressive forces. The death of this young protester has intensified public anger and protest, and the city is now on a general strike. Today as well, suppressive forces fired at protesters on Hazrati Street in Kazerun. In Ramsar, a large number of security forces have been deployed and the atmosphere is extremely militarized. Shopkeepers have been ordered to close their businesses, and people have formed protest gatherings in neighborhoods. According to some reports, over the past two nights nearly 20 bodies of those killed in the recent protests have been transferred to Mohammad Montazeri Hospital in Najafabad.
On the other hand, on the evenings of Dey 18 and 19 (January 8 and 9) in Hamedan—one of the hotbeds of popular protest—during clashes between protesters and government forces, two police majors named Mohammadjavad Bakhshian and Reza Matin-Manesh were killed. Everywhere, people are standing bravely and are struggling to bring their unfinished revolution to its conclusion.
The government has become extremely frightened and has intensified its repression. According to some published reports, Khamenei has ordered the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the country’s security agencies to go on alert at a level higher than during the 12-day war with Israel. This reflects the regime’s intense fear of the people’s powerful uprisings.
Arrests have exceeded 2,000. The state media outlet *Tasnim* reported the arrest of 200 “leaders of the riots” in Tehran and claimed that most of them had come to the capital from western provinces. The Prosecutor General has instructed prosecutors’ offices to “without delay prepare the grounds for the trial of terrorists.” In this directive, prosecutors are told to carefully and promptly issue indictments and prepare for trials and decisive برخورد (crackdowns) against individuals who, by “betraying the nation and creating insecurity, are seeking foreign domination over the country.”
Khamenei, who sees himself and his government encircled by revolutionary people, issued a warning on Saturday morning, saying: “The Islamic Republic will not back down in the face of those who engage in destruction.” Khamenei and judicial officials of the Islamic Republic are directly threatening protesters with execution. The internet has been cut off, and the ability to report news is extremely limited.