Gunmen attack major Shiite holy site in Iran, killing 15

Gunmen opened fire on Wednesday at a major Shiite holy site in the southern city of Shiraz killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens according to staterun mediaThe official website of the judiciary says two gunmen were arrested and a third is on the run after the attack on the Shah Cheragh mosque The staterun IRNA news agency reported the death toll and state TV said 40 people were woundedThe attack which bore the hallmarks of Sunni extremists who have targeted the countrys Shiite majority in the past comes as Iran has been convulsed by over a month of antigovernment demonstrations the biggest challenge to the Islamic Republic in over a decadeAlso Read Did CM Shinde celebrate Diwali with police in Gadchiroli for publicity asks NCPThousands of protesters poured into the streets of a northwestern city to mark the watershed 40 days since the death in custody of 22yearold Mahsa Amini whose tragedy sparked the protestsDeaths are commemorated in Shiite Islam as in many other traditions again 40 days later typically with an outpouring of grief In Aminis Kurdish hometown of Saqez the birthplace of the nationwide unrest now roiling Iran crowds snaked through the local cemetery and thronged her graveDeath to the dictator protesters cried according to video footage that corresponds with known features of the city and Aichi Cemetery Women ripped off their headscarves or hijabs and waved them above their heads Other videos showed a massive procession making its way along a highway and through a dusty field toward Aminis grave There were reports of road closures in the areaStatelinked media reported 10000 protesters in the procession to her graveAlso read Will Kharge be scapegoat for Congress show in Gujarat Himachal BJPHengaw a Kurdish human rights group said security forces fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators The semiofficial ISNA news agency said security forces fired pellets at crowds of demonstrators on the outskirts of Saqez and pushed back demonstrators who tried to attack the governors office It said local internet access was cut off due to security considerationsEarlier in the day Kurdistan Gov Esmail Zarei Koosha insisted that traffic was flowing as normal calling the situation completely stableStaterun media announced that schools and universities in Irans northwestern region would close purportedly to curb the spread of influenzaIn downtown Tehran the capital major sections of the traditional grand bazaar closed in solidarity with the protests Crowds clapped and shouted Freedom Freedom Freedom through the labyrinthine marketplaceThis year is a year of blood they also chanted Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will be toppledRiot police on motorbikes were out in force A large group of men and women marched through the streets setting trash cans ablaze and shouting Death to the dictator as cars honked their support Police unleashed antiriot bullets at protesters in the streets and sprayed pellets upward at journalists filming from windows and rooftops Antigovernment chants also echoed from the University of Tehran campusAmini detained for allegedly violating the countrys strict dress code for women remains the potent symbol of protests that have posed one of the most serious challenges to the Islamic RepublicWith the slogan WomanLifeFreedom the demonstrations first focused on womens rights and the statemandated hijab or headscarf for women But they quickly evolved into calls to oust the Shiite clerics that have ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic RevolutionThe protests have also galvanized university students labour unions prisoners and ethnic minorities like the Kurds along Irans border with IraqSince the protests erupted security forces have fired live ammunition and tear gas to disperse demonstrations killing over 200 people according to rights groupsUntold numbers have been arrested with estimates in the thousands Iranian judicial officials announced this week they would bring over 600 people to trial over their role in the protests including 315 in Tehran 201 in the neighboring Alborz province and 105 in the southwestern province of KhuzestanTehran prosecutor Ali Salehi told the staterun IRNA news agency that four protesters were charged with war against God which is punishable by death in IranIranian officials have blamed the protests on foreign interference without offering evidenceLast week Iran imposed sanctions on over a dozen European officials companies and institutions including foreignbased Farsi channels that have extensively covered the protests accusing them of supporting terrorism The sanctions involve an entry and visa ban for the staffers in addition to the confiscation of their assets in IranDeutsche Welle the German public broadcaster whose Farsi team was blacklisted condemned the move on Wednesday as unacceptableI expect politicians in Germany and Europe to increase the pressure on the regime said DW Director General Peter LimbourgIn a separate development most of the remaining portion of a 10story tower that collapsed earlier this year in the southwestern city of Abadan killing at least 41 people fell on Wednesday staterun media reported The staterun IRNA news agency reported that a woman in a car parked near the site was killed Other parts of the building had collapsed last monthThe deadly collapse of the Metropol Building on May 23 became a lightning rod for protests in Abadan some 660 kilometers 410 miles southwest of the capital Tehran The disaster shined a spotlight on shoddy construction practices government corruption and negligence in IranVideos spread online of the remaining tower crashing into the street as massive clouds of dust billowed into the skyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its 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