Fourth Anniversary of the Suppression of the November 2019 Protests; Families Seeking Justice Gather in Toronto

On the fourth anniversary of the suppression of the November 2019 protests, a number of families seeking justice participated in a ceremony titled "Justice Seeking, Continuation of the Struggle" in Toronto, Canada. Kiarash Alipour, a human rights activist, stated in an interview with Voice of America that the purpose of holding this ceremony is to fight against the forgetting of "precious lives" that have been killed by the Islamic Republic over the past 44 years. Parastoo Azizi, another human rights activist, referred to the suppression of the nationwide protests in November 2019 and also the protests of 2022, calling November one of the "bitterest months in Iran" and added that during these days, "we have lost hundreds of young people in Iran." Several families of the victims, including Milad Mohammadi, the brother of Shahryar Mohammadi, who is counted among the victims of the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests, spoke at the event. Milad Mohammadi, as an eyewitness, recounted the story of the protesters who were killed last year during the nationwide protests by Iranian government forces. Maral Gorginpour, the wife of Farid Arasteh, who was killed in the downing of the Ukrainian plane, called for the solidarity of all people to "bring down the regime of terror and crime" in an interview with Voice of America. The Association of Families of Victims of the Ukrainian PS752 flight recently expressed solidarity with the families of the victims of the November 2019 protests in a statement. In its statement, the association referred to the "murder" of more than 1,500 protesters in November 2019 "by the Islamic Republic" as "mass murder" and "unforgettable crimes," calling for the punishment of those responsible for the "atrocities of November." The November 2019 protests began following a sudden increase in gasoline prices and quickly turned into widespread protests against the Islamic Republic. The Iranian government simultaneously cut off the internet and violently suppressed the protesters, killing and injuring hundreds while arresting thousands more. Reuters reported that the number of protesters killed during the government crackdown was 1,500. The New York Times also described the November 2019 protests as the "worst unrest" in Iran in the past 40 years, with the majority of protesters consisting of unemployed or low-income youth.