Iranians prepare to celebrate millennial fire festival with new protests against theocratic rule

Iran getting ready to celebrate the millennial fire festivalprior to persian new yearwith new tensions due to calls for protestswarnings from the authorities and the deployment of security forces.

The holiday of “Charshanbe Suri” has roots Zoroastrian and Iranians celebrate it from today at dusk, jumping and dancing Fires of joy to attract good fortune during the Persian New Year which begins on March 21.

This pre-Islamic festival with 1,700 years It usually gathers crowds and this year activists have called for taking to the streets to continue the protests sparked by the death in September Mahsa Amini.

“Let’s go back to the street, we will throw revolutionary anger into the firecalled a group of young activists on social networks.

The call has been echoed by various activist groups and comes as protests sparked by Amini’s death have all but disappeared from the streets after a repression which caused almost 500 dead and in which they have been four protesters hangedone of them in public.

Last night, there were already some tentative protests in several Iranian cities, after weeks of calm, according to videos shared by activists on social media.

Faced with the announcement of new demonstrations, the authorities did not hesitate to alert the population and announce the police deployment.

Thus, the police chief of the Tehran region, Abbas Ali Mohammedianannounced that from 3 p.m. local time on Tuesday, officers will be deployed across the capital to deal with “those who disturb the peace”.

For its part, the provincial prosecutor’s office of Isfahan warned that one year in prison and 74 lashes to those who demonstrate or protest, among other cases.

Amini’s death in police custody after being arrested for not wearing her headscarf sparked the biggest protests in decades against the Islamic Republicled by young people shouting “woman, life, freedom”with a strong feminist tone.

The protests have died down, but many women continue their fight by letting their long hair hang in the air, in a gesture of disobedience to laws they deem unjust.

Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisiasserted last week that wearing the Islamic veil is a legal obligation and a religious necessity for Iranian women to maintain a “chaste” life and ensure the safety of society.

(With information from EFE)

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