A demonstration for women’s rights taking place in the Iranian city of Isfahan is transforming into a protest against the regime, a source reported to Dr. Mordechai Kedar, lecturer and researcher at Bar Ilan University Wednesday night.
“Approximately ten thousand people are protesting the fact that people probably working for the regime are throwing acid in the faces of women and girls who do not dress according to the stringent rules of the fanatics,” Kedar wrote in a post on his Facebook page. “The demonstration is in area ‘Bridge 33.’
“The source emphasized that the demonstrators are calling to topple the Supreme Leader, [Ayatollah] Ali Khamenei.
“In other words, a demonstration about women’s rights has turned into a protest against the regime. The source did not mention the reaction of the government, but I assume that severe action will be taken,” Kedar wrote.
“Will the demonstration in Isfahan spread to other Iranian cities,” he questioned. “Time will tell.”
In 2009, Iran saw mass demonstrations across the country protesting what was largely believed to be a rigged re-election of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Foreign journalists were banned, phone networks were cut and internet connections were spotty at best as the government sought to control the growing unrest.
Basij militia and police officers wielded batons and fired tear gas canisters at protesters, but the measures did little to quell the demonstrations. The government followed up with arrests, layoffs, convictions and hangings. Eventually the protests stopped but instead moved underground and became a full-scale anti-government operation.
