The crowd responded by shouting: “Shameless!” A live broadcast of the event on state television then cut out. Demonstrators later chanted: “I will kill; I will kill the one who killed my brother!”
Protesters angry over a building collapse in southwestern Iran that killed at least 33 people shouted down an emissary sent by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sparking a crackdown in which riot police clubbed demonstrators and fired tear gas, according to online videos analyzed on Monday, reports the AP.
The demonstration directly challenged the Iranian government’s response to the disaster a week ago as pressure rises in the Islamic Republic over rising food prices and other economic woes amid the unravelling of its nuclear deal with world powers.
While the protests so far still appear to be leaderless, even Arab tribes in the region seemed to join them Sunday, raising the risk of the unrest intensifying. Already, tensions between Tehran and the West have spiked after Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard on Friday seized two Greek oil tankers seized at sea.
Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari AleKasir tried to address upset mourners near the site of the 10-story Metropol Building, but hundreds gathered Sunday night instead booed and shouted.
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