Tehran on Saturday marked the 44th anniversary of the Iranian revolution with state-organized rallies, as anti-government hackers briefly interrupted a televised speech by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
Raisi, whose hardline government faces one of the boldest challenges from young protesters calling for its ouster, appealed to the “deceived youth” to repent so they can be pardoned by Iran’s supreme leader.
In that case, he told a crowd congregated at Tehran’s expansive Azadi Square: “The Iranian people will embrace them with open arms.”
Photo: AFP
His live televised speech was interrupted on the Internet for about a minute, with a logo appearing on the screen of a group of anti-Iranian government hackers that goes by the name of “Edalate Ali,” which means “Justice of Ali.”
“Death to the Islamic republic,” a voice shouted.
Nationwide protests swept Iran following the death in September last year of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police.
Security forces have responded with a deadly crackdown on the protests, among the strongest challenges to the government since the 1979 revolution ended 2,500 years of monarchy.
As part of an amnesty marking the revolution’s anniversary, Iranian authorities on Friday released jailed dissident Farhad Meysami, who had been on a hunger strike, and Iranian-French academic Fariba Adelkhah.
On Sunday last week, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued an amnesty covering a large number of prisoners, including some arrested in recent anti-government protests.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said dozens of political prisoners and protesters, including several prominent figures, had been freed under the amnesty, but that the exact conditions of their release were not known.
Rights activists have expressed concern on social media that many may have been forced to sign pledges not to repeat their “offenses” before being released. The judiciary denied this on Friday.
HRANA said that as of Friday, 528 protesters had been killed, including 71 minors.
Seventy government security forces had also been killed, and as many as 19,763 protesters are believed to have been arrested, it said.
On Friday night, state media showed fireworks as part of government-sponsored celebrations, with people chanting Allahu Akbar (God is great).
However, many could be heard shouting “death to the dictator” and “death to the Islamic Republic” on videos posted on social media.
Reuters could not independently verify the social media posts.
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