In protest against killing of a number of people in an earlier violent anti-government demonstration in Iran's western city of Ivan-Gharb in Ilam province, local businesses and bazaar shut down yesterday and local residents stayed home. 

Following the bloody crackdown on a demonstration in Ivan-Gharb where a large number of people were killed and wounded, the special units of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) imposed a martial law in the city and arrested a number of protesters.

In the early hours of Sunday, April 27, more than 40 local youths were arrested and sent to jail. To quell the demonstrations, the regime replaced Ali-Akbar Abdi, governor of Ilam, by the deputy director for political and security affairs of Ilam's governorate. Two special delegates were also dispatched to the city, one by the regime's Supreme National Security Council and the other from Majlis's committee on security affairs. They were assigned to repress protests and find ways to deal with the tense situation prevailing in the city.

By calling the protesters, especially the youths, as "thugs and hooligans," Saeed Hashemi, deputy director for political and security affairs of Ilam province said, "After breaking windows of government buildings and banks in the city's main high road, thugs and hooligans attacked the governorate's offices where they clashed with security forces."

The regime is refusing to issue a certificate to bury the dead which has add to the misery of the bereaved residents.

Qanbari, Majlis deputy for Ilam province, acknowledged the crimes committed by government forces and said, "The government forces opened fire on people without any prior warning. There are three teenagers; 12, 16 and 17 years of age among the dead which shows that the government forces fired indiscriminately into the crowd."

The Iranian Resistance calls on human rights organizations to condemn the regime's inhuman measures and make every effort to get those detained by the regime released as soon as possible.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
April 30, 2008