Violent demonstrations erupted inside the city of Kermanshah inWestern Iran on Monday, December 2, following the discovery of thebody of Sunni Muslim cleric who was believed to have beenassassinated by government agents.
The cleric, Mollah Mohammad Rabaie, was found dead in his home onMonday morning. Supporters gathering to hold a public funeral for himlater that day in the streets of Kermanshah, the capital city of thepredominantly Kurdish province by the same name, were attacked bysecurity forces, including Revolutionary Guards troops. According toreports from the region, the funeral quickly escalated into afull-scale confrontation between mourners and security forces, whoturned their machine-guns on the crowd. Demonstrators responded byburning government vehicles. Kurdish sources said that "several"persons were confirmed dead in Kermanshah.
By late Monday, clashes were also reported in the Kurdish towns ofRawanser, Paveh, and Jwanrow. The opposition Kurdish Democratic Partyof Iran reported that demonstrators attacked banks and governmentoffices in Jwanrow, and beat up the local governor general. Inresponse, Revolutionary Guards troops in Jwanrow opened fire, killingtwelve persons.
The opposition Iran Nation's Party reported from Tehran that"dozens" had been killed or wounded during the clashes, and that thelocal hospitals were filling up with victims of gunshot wounds.
By Wednesday morning, Dec. 4, the INP reported that "thousands ofcitizens" from the Kurdish city of Sarandaj were moving towardKermanshah, 60 miles to the south, "in support of localdemonstrators." The opposition party said the situation had gotten"out of control."
The Foundation for Democracy in Iran holds the authorities of theIslamic Republic responsible for the deaths of demonstrators inKermanshah province, and calls on the Teheran regime to stopextrajudicial killings and death squads.
The Foundation is also concerned by an allegation by the INP thatthe Ministry of Information and Security is plotting to kill INPleader Darioush Forouhar, in an attack on his Teheran home staged asa common burglary.
The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is a private,non-profit corporation registered in the State of Maryland.Contact: Kenneth R. Timmerman, Executive Director (exec@iran.org).FDI materials, including the FDI Newswire, are availablefree-of-charge via the Internet at http://www.iran.org/.