Iranian authorities have stepped up their crackdown on protesters following Martha Amini’s death, with the Ministry of Information announcing the arrests of nine foreigners, journalists and celebrities.
“they [the regime] I want them to shut up. The Achilles heel of this regime has always been the people,” Middle East expert and Foreign Desk editor-in-chief Lisa Dufftali told Fox News Digital.
“They know people have reached a tipping point and are fueled by disillusionment.
“They are literally risking their lives to tell the world they don’t want this regime. , poets, singers and celebrities, they are trying to make an example out of them to stop the protests.”
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Protests began at the funeral of 22-year-old Amini after her death in moral police custody. Police claim she only fell into a coma after her arrest. Her family and some witnesses say they saw evidence of police beating her.
As of Friday, protests had spread to more than 140 Iranian cities, killing at least 83 people and arresting 3,000 people in 31 provinces, according to the Defense of Democracy Foundation. released an update Friday about protest monitoring.
The administration tried to suppress the protests block access Posted on social media in dozens of cities recently, no previous example of riots resulted in widespread killings of protesters.
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Police arrested Niloufar Hamedi, the journalist who first reported Amini’s death, over the weekend, and arrested 28 journalists, including several from Iran’s reformist newspaper Shargu, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The Foreign Desk reported that most of the journalists, along with the confiscated electronic equipment, were taken during a house search after midnight.
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Even prominent artists such as poet Mona Borzoway and singer Shervin Hajipour have been arrested after posting media supportive of the protests. The regime has accused foreign countries of inciting violence through these celebrities and journalists.
But the world is showing support for the protests. In response to Amini’s death, the US has imposed sanctions on morality police and seven other Iranian security officials “responsible for quelling non-violent protests” in the country, says US Secretary of State Antony Brinken. The secretary made the announcement on September 22. He directly blamed the moral police for Amini’s death.
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“Iranian people have a following all over the world, especially on social media,” said Dakhtali. “Iranians inside Iran who have a large following are using their popularity and platform to post their support for the protests and that is why the regime is targeting them. I want you to shut up.”