Summary Update on Ashura Protests (Dec 27)

Here are the latest stats from yesterday’s Ashura protests

Scale:

So far, I have been able to confirm protests in Tehran, Mashhad, Tabriz, Shiraz, Isfahan, Ardebil, Babol, Qom and Najafabad. I have not been able to confirm protests in Oromieh, Ahvaz, Arak and Yazd, though, I did receive some news from those cities of protests. It is worth mentioning, though, that the cities mentioned as having had confirmed protests are the largest cities in Iran.

Cities marked in red are here protests can be confirmed. Cities marked in green reportedly had protests, but this could not be confiremd.

Numbers:

No reliable numbers were available from other city except for Tehran. There were few videos from other cities for any kind of estimate besides Tehran. What can be said for sure is that tens of thousands were present in Tehran and as the other cities are smaller than the Iranian capital, the protests there were likely smaller than Tehran as in almost every other countrywide protest in the past six months.

Only one report about numbers was available about cities other than Tehran. The report indicated that Shiraz had some 20,000 protesters out on the streets, but this could not be confirmed.

Violence:

There were no reliable reports on the number of people who sustained injuries. Though, the pictures and videos coming out of Tehran and the fact that crowds were fired upon by security forces indicate that the number is at least in the dozens if not more. Many people were injured in Shiraz during clashes as well. Tear gas was used in both Tehran and Shiraz.

Ashura protests were the most violent in the past few months. Initial estimates were three, but as the day wore on, the number climbed to five. Now, reports confirm that at least 15 people were killed during protests in Tehran. There were also unconfirmed reports that several people died in clashes in Tabriz.

Among the protesters killed in Tehran was Mir Hossein Mousavi’s nephew, Sayyed Ali Mousavi. His body has now reportedly disappeared from the morgue.

Arrests:

The number of protesters detained was likely in the hundreds. Reformist websites reported that perhaps between 300-600 people were arrested. One website claimed that at least 550 people have so far been hauled into Evin – the main prison near Tehran – in the past 48 hours.