For the seventh consecutive night, the Shiraz Gate and Mardavij neighborhoods in Isfahan were the starting point of protests and clashes in Isfahan - 2003-06-17

For the seventh consecutive night, the Shiraz Gate and Mardavij neighborhoods in Isfahan have been the starting point of protests and clashes. Young people and students from Isfahan University gathered in various areas from Mardavij to Chahar Bagh Bala, lighting fires and chanting slogans such as 'I will kill, I will kill whoever killed my brother,' 'Death to Hezbollah,' and 'Khamenei, go away.' These gatherings led to scattered clashes between them and the Basij forces, which peaked late at night as people took to the rooftops and threw stones and bottles at the Basij members who were chasing the youth in the streets. Simultaneously, in various streets of the city, people honked their car horns and made noise. Around midnight, the scattered clashes turned into a unified protest of youth on Chahar Bagh Bala street, pushing back the Ansar and Basij forces. During these protests and clashes, people set several government buildings and banks on fire or attacked them. It is reported that during these protests, people burned the cars of several criminal Basij members who had played a role in suppressing the youth in previous nights in front of their homes. Additionally, the youth widely wrote slogans such as 'Death to Khamenei' and 'A republic without clerics by the people's vote' on walls and doors, so that during the march, there was hardly a wall or glass of a government institution without a slogan written on it. When the protesters reached near the Si-o-se-pol bridge, the guards surrounded them from several sides, and with the help of the Basij and the IRGC, and through sporadic gunfire and the use of tear gas, they managed to stop and disperse the protesters. However, reports indicate that these protests and clashes continued until recently in various neighborhoods and streets of Chahar Bagh Bala. The police have carried out widespread arrests, and currently, Basij units in the Mardavij and Shiraz Gate areas are searching rooftops to pursue youth and people throwing stones and sound grenades at them. They have also abducted several young people from their homes.