DUBAI: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have built up their presence in restive Kurdish regions, state media reported on Friday amid a crackdown on mass protests, as video showed demonstrations in minority Baluch areas of the southeast.
The mass demonstrations that erupted after the Sept 16 death in custody of 22-year old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini spread rapidly across the country, but have been most intense in areas populated by ethnic minorities, many of whom are Sunni.
The unrest has posed one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s rulers since they came to power in 1979, with previous bouts of sustained protest eventually being crushed.
Activist website 1500Tavsir posted footage it said was from protests on Friday in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province, with the sound of gunshots and, in one video, demonstrators running for cover.-Reuters /UNS
