Biden praises Iranian protesters amid clampdown

Activists in Iran on Saturday called for a fresh wave of nationwide protests over custodial death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Jina Mahsa Amini.

The call for launching new mass protests came after US President Joe Biden reiterated his support for the protesters and said he was "stunned" by the protests.

"It stunned me what it awakened in Iran. It awakened something that I don't think will be quieted for a long, long time," he said on Friday.

Voicing his support for the "the brave women of Iran," he said, "Iran has to end the violence against its own citizens simply exercising their fundamental rights."

The protests, now in their fifth week, started on September 16, three days after Amini was arrested by the Iran's morality police.

To counter the anti-government protests, the Iranian regime has organized pro-government rallies attended by women clad in traditional black robes.

The government has also launched a brutal crackdown against young activists, journalists, students including even minors which has received global condemnation and led to new sanctions on Iran from Britain, Canada and the United States. According to Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights, so far the unrest in Iran has claimed 108 lives.

New wave of mass protests announced

Iranian activists on Saturday made online appeals for participation in protests.

Despite restricted internet services, the activists have called people to gather at spots where security forces are not present and have asked them to chant "death to the dictator."

 "We have to be present in the squares, because the best VPN these days is the street," the activists said.

Responding to the fresh call for anti-government protests, the Islamic Development Coordination Council, which is one of Iran's main revolutionary bodies, has urged people to show up on Saturday to "express their revolutionary anger against sedition and rioters."

According to a journalist at the Shargh newspaper, the "retirees" of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were also called upon by the government to join on Saturday.

mf/dj (AFP, dpa)