The people of Sistan-Baluchestan province from the Baluch Sunni minority in southeastern Iran held antiregime rallies on Friday with reports of sporadic clashes.
This Friday was the 38th consecutive week that people of the province held demonstrations against the government but the rallies were significantly larger following calls for protests by Sunni clerics and activist groups as the regime seems to have intensified its campaign against their religious leader Mowlavi Abdolhamid.
The prominent religious leader has been hammering the authorities in his weekly Friday sermons since September when nationwide protests erupted in the country.
People in the Sunni-majority cities of Iranshahr, Chabahar, Khash, Rask, Pishin, and Souran poured out into streets after Friday prayers, with videos showing residents hurling stones at the security forces in the neighborhoods of their towns.
According to the advocacy group Haalvsh, which reports on issues affecting the Baluch people in the predominantly Sunni province, security forces opened fire at the protesters who were chanting slogans in several of the cities.
The website also said that dozens of people have been arrested as the regime's plainclothes forces attacked the protesters and even raided their homes following the rallies.
Friday’s demonstrations were particularly large and fierce compared with previous weeks as reports emerged this week that the IRGC intelligence had assigned a hitman to poison and kill the vocal Sunni cleric of Zahedan.
Haalvsh reported on Monday that the security guards of Makki Mosque, in which Mowlavi Abdolhamid makes his sermons, arrested a man in the guise of a religious student who wanted to assassinate him.
Since September during ongoing protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, Mowlavi Abdolhamid has made fiery speeches against the heavy crackdown and killing of protesters, calling government actions "felony". He has also called for holding a referendum in Iran with the presence of international observers.
As usual the internet was shut down in Zahedan and several other cities in the region on June 23 but it did not stop people from showing up for the rallies or publishing footage from their protests and Abdolhamid’s sermons.
During his sermon this Friday, Abdolhamid slammed the regime over its suppression of those critical of the performance of the ruling power, even the officials and members of parliament.
Emphasizing that Iranians will never give up their demands for freedom and justice, the Sunni cleric said that the national interests of the people have been damaged by the decisions and actions of the "governments and officials of the country".
Highlighting that people from all walks of life are under pressure due to wrong decisions by regime officials, he said that he does not foresee a promising future for the country where challenges remain unresolved.
In order to improve the economy, capable people and efficient plans and mechanisms are needed, “and until these are not provided, the basic problems cannot be solved," he added.
Iran is struggling with a serious economic crisis partly due to US sanctions, but also because of its government-controlled system, lack of competition and widespread corruption.
In a tacit reference to the assassination attempt against him, Abdolhamid supported the legitimate political struggle to achieve freedom, justice and a healthy economy, saying that "We pursue the interests of the people and in this path, we accept any threat to our lives."