Iranian police are clashing with students across the country as the Islamist regime nears its 20th delay of deadly crackdowns on protesters seeking rights for women.
Multiple unconfirmed videos have circulated on social media appearing to show students defying the regime. Other videos appear to show pro-government forces firing on demonstrators. While Iranians have protested against the regime before in recent years, observers say the current unrest is different.
“The Iranian people have continued their protests for over two weeks. This time around, it’s different. We have never seen such courage on the part of the Iranian protesters who are burning Basiji headquarters, police cars, even attacking and killing regime forces,” Iranian analyst Lisa Daftari told Fox News Digital.
“What the Iranian people are telling the world, though, is that while they’re willing to continue and to fight their own fight, they do not believe they can do it without the support of the West. The support they need isn’t just from the podium, although that is a good start. The Iranian people need the West, spearheaded by the United States, to pivot from appeasing the regime to supporting the people,” she continued.
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Daftari went on to argue that the U.S. must withdraw from nuclear deal talks with the Iranian regime as a show of support for protesters.
Iranian authorities have slain dozens over the past three weeks of protests, but demonstrators have struck back, killing several members of the Basij paramilitary group, which acts as enforcers for the regime.
Crowds across the country have chanted “Death to Khamenei!” and “Death to the dictator!” referring to Iran’s supreme leader.
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Iran’s internet blackout has made it difficult to ascertain how many people have been arrested or killed in the unrest. Some estimates say as many as 200 people have been killed and 10,000 have been arrested.
The demonstrations first erupted after Iran’s morality police arrested 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September for not wearing her hijab correctly. She suffered severe injuries while in custody and was later released to the hospital in a coma, where she soon died.
Iranian authorities have since arrested the journalist who first reported on Amini’s death.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has condemned the protests as “riots” and blamed the U.S. and Israel for inciting the unrest.
Fox News’ Ashley Papa contributed to this report.
