IRAN RACKED BY FRESH PROTESTS AFTER POLICE FIRES TEAR GAS AT A PROTESTER'S MEMORIAL

Fresh protests were reported from several Iranian cities Thursday after memorial services for those killed by the security forces turned violent, Iran International reported. A large crowd had gathered around Hamidreza Rouhi’s grave at Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery in Tehran on the 40th day of his death. Hamidreza, who was a university student and a model, was shot dead on November 18.

This blossom killed in the bud was an offering to the homeland," chanted the crowd. People later started chanting against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who they hold responsible for the killing of the protesters. 

“Down with the Dictator”, people can be heard saying in video footage.

The crowd started to swell and the chants against the regime grew. “Poverty, corruption, high cost of living, We will continue until the toppling [of the regime]," the crowd chanted.

Security forces then tried to tame the crowd by using tear gas, which the people tried to neutralise by burning trash. Shotgun pellets were also reportedly fired by the forces. To prevent more people from joining those already inside, they shut the gates. 

Hamidreza was initially claimed to be a member of the Basij militia of the Revolutionary Guards by the state media. It blamed protesters for his killing, and called him a “martyr”. However, his friends came out with proof that showed otherwise and the media had to later admit that he was a protester. 

“They killed Hamidreza and claimed him as a Basiji”, mourners chanted at his memorial service at Behesht-e Zahra three days after his death.

Cemeteries are mostly full of people of Thursdays since several of them visit the graves of their loved ones. Reports suggest Behesht-e Zahra also had plenty of visitors on the day who joined the chanting crowds. According to social media posts, the chanting continued late into the evening, with roads outside the cemetery blocked by traffic.

Meanwhile, Hamidreza's parents weren't allowed to attend the memorial by the security forces who were stopped from leaving their home. 

Funerals and memorial services have been regularly targetted by security forces in the past few months. They use tear gas to quell the protests and have even killed people. On November 20, Heydar Mahali died at the funeral of 16-year-old Karvan Ghader-Shukri in Piranshahr.

Several more memorials were held in the country on Thursday for other protesters killed during the landmark protests in the country following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

WION