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More than 80 people died on Friday, Sept. 30 in what is being called “Bloody Friday” by Iranian protestors. Security forces used deadly force on unarmed demonstrators in the southeastern Iranian province of  Sistan-Baluchistan.

Human rights groups have long considered the province volatile. It is home to an ethnic Sunni Muslim minority who are some of the poorest people in Iran.

In the capital city of Zahedan, hundreds of people continue to gather marking the Islamic mourning period for the people lost on “Bloody Friday.”

Demonstrators clash daily with security forces in Zahedan.

The clerical establishment is encountering the most serious challenges in decades as anti-government protests are continuing across the country

Bloody Friday 

Sistan-Baluchistan is one of the largest provinces, but protests are taking place around the country. 

The insurgency was setoff when Mahsa Amini, was murdered on September 16 after being beaten by Tehran’s infamous ‘morality police.’

The Islamic regime which has held power since 1979 is struggling to maintain control. So far Iranian government officials and authorities have not been able to get the upper hand and control the ever growing over two-month-long protest movement.

Since September the compelling images of the massive demonstrations have been leaking out to the worldwide media. 

The authoritarian government continues to crack down on the average Iranian by shutting down the internet.

Protesters want a more liberal society. And the government, since the 1980s, has continued to rule with the strictest interpretations of Islam.

In many ways, this is a feminist uprising. Women are being murdered for simply removing their hijabs in public.

EU Sanctions

On Monday at a meeting in Brussels the EU issued a statement claiming that sanctions were being imposed due to the Iranian governments “role in the death of Mahsa Amini and the violent response to the recent demonstrations in Iran.”

The EU statement said the “use of force against peaceful protestors” was “unjustifiable and unacceptable,’ because “people in Iran, as anywhere else, have the right to peacefully protest…” 

The statement called for the death of Amini to be “investigated in an independent and transparent manner and any[one] proved responsible for her death…held accountable.”

The European Union sanctioned 29 Iranians and three entities. All were alleged to have committed human rights violations during the ongoing protests. The latest round of sanctions brings the total number to 126 people and 11 entities over human rights violations in Iran.

The sanctions ban any of these people from entering the EU. Calls for the seizure of any assets they hold in the EU. And it is also a prohibition on EU citizens doing business with any sanctioned person or entity.