Iranian cities hit by anti-government protests
Anti-government demonstrations that began in Iran on Thursday have now spread to several major cities. Large numbers reportedly turned out in Rasht, in the north, and Kermanshah, in the west, with smaller protests in Isfahan, Hamadan and elsewhere. The protests began against rising prices but have spiralled into a general outcry against clerical rule and government policies.
A small number of people have been arrested in Tehran, the capital. They were among a group of 50 people who gathered in a city square, Tehran's deputy governor-general for security affairs told the Iranian Labour News Agency.
The US State Department condemned the arrests and urged "all nations to publicly support the Iranian people and their demands for basic rights and an end to corruption".
Also at Bloomberg and Reuters.
Update: Street protests hit Iran for third straight day as pro-government rallies held
Iran Confronts 3rd Day of Protests, With Calls for Khamenei to Quit
Update 2: Iran blocks Instagram, Telegram apps as government protesters will 'pay the price' for unrest (archive)
CEO says Iran blocking (Telegram) messaging app after issuing warning to protesters
Iran protests: 'Iron fist' threatened if unrest continues
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday December 31 2017, @08:17PM (8 children)
Throw the Jews in with 'em.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 31 2017, @09:26PM (7 children)
It is an interesting phenomenon with you libertards. You push the "free speech" envelope as heavily as possible in some attempt to assert your right to speak any kind of garbage you feel like. The very real blowback is that your methods create a false sense of urgency against such "hate speech" since it is not always obvious when someone is trolling and half the time the trolls are semi-serious.
Your ilk will create the political setting where the 1st amendment is altered and "thought crime" becomes a much more significant reality. I wouldn't mind so much if you were only shooting yourself in the foot, but your efforts will have a much wider impact upon innocent people.
People waste their time doing many relatively worthless things, you waste your time soft-pushing evil.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday December 31 2017, @10:27PM (1 child)
Are you implying that Muslims cannot get along with Jews and other sects of Muslims? Bigot! Racist!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 31 2017, @10:47PM
It gets worse: Iranians that protest against theocratic rule are Islamophobic.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 31 2017, @10:28PM
Shut up, Donny! Remember that thing we talked about? You're doing it again.
(Score: 0, Troll) by khallow on Monday January 01 2018, @03:32AM (3 children)
Such would-be censors would be targeting more legitimate speech otherwise. It's better to have them fail against "hate speech" than succeed against mere disagreement speech. And we see, once again, libertarians blamed for the evil of others.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 01 2018, @06:01PM (2 children)
Not blamed for the evil of others, blamed for their own stupidity which makes it easier for people to perpetrate evil.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday January 01 2018, @06:19PM (1 child)
I guess that's not quite as stupid an accusation, assuming it's true.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 01 2018, @07:32PM
Oh it is very true. Just take a gander at jmorris spewing his tin foil half baked noodle sauce.