Government Rally in Iran Held on Saturday in Five Cities

According to reports, demonstrations were held on Saturday in the cities of Amol, Semnan, Shahin Shahr, and Shadgan in protest against recent gatherings and in support of the Islamic Republic government. The official news agency of the judiciary, Mizan, reported that on Saturday, January 6, demonstrations were held in response to recent protests in Amol in Mazandaran province, Semnan, Shahin Shahr in Isfahan province, and Shadgan in Khuzestan province. According to the report, slogans such as 'Death to America', 'Death to Israel', 'Death to England', 'No compromise, no surrender; fight against America', 'This whole army has come for the love of the leader', and 'Death to the seditionist' were among the slogans of the participants in these demonstrations. Reuters estimated the number of government supporters rallying on Saturday to be 'thousands'. In the cities where demonstrations in support of the Islamic Republic were held, protests had taken place in previous days, including the deaths of three individuals in Shahin Shahr. According to Iranian news agencies, a group of participants in Friday prayers in various Iranian cities marched against the recent gatherings. IRIB and other Iranian media outlets published reports on these rallies in different cities of Iran. Reports indicate that participants in these rallies chanted slogans against the protesters as well as against the countries of America, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. These rallies were held while Iranian Ministry of Interior officials declared the protesters' gatherings in recent days to be illegal. These rallies opposing the protests took place despite officials from the Ministry of Interior stating that all gatherings were deemed 'illegal' and that no permits had been issued for any gatherings. The 'No to Inflation' protests initially began on Thursday, January 7, in Mashhad and several other cities, but as these gatherings continued, protesters began chanting political slogans against the leader and officials of the Islamic Republic in addition to economic slogans. Subsequently, protests were held in 101 cities across Iran. The crackdown on these protests has so far resulted in at least 22 deaths. In this context, Khamenei accused 'enemies' of being involved in the recent protests in Iran. Rouhani stated that criticism and protest are the rights of the people in all matters.