Iran protests flare up again; A woman in Tehran says students have the courage to protest after the bloodshed

As IranThe new academic year began at the weekend, with large-scale protests erupting at many universities – the first tense situation since the bloodshed of the clerical regime. torture throughout the country December and January.

The Virginia-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said more than 7,000 people have been confirmed dead, while more than 11,000 others are missing.

The fresh outbreak of violence, which began on Saturday, has clearly challenged the government to crack down on tensions again – as the final death toll from the earlier violence is yet to be made official, tens of thousands were afraid to die. Now, for the third straight day, student protests have broken out.

“They’re not stupid, they’re brave,” said one anti-government protester who spoke to CBS News in Tehran. “Because as you can see in the protests in the universities, there is a sun flag and a lion and they sing ‘Javid Shah.’ In both cases, they have (i) the death penalty and imprisonment. So they have the courage to do this. They are not stupid.”

The politically charged phrase “Javid Shah” means “Long live the shah.” It refers to the last king of Iran, Mohammed Reza Palavi, who was deposed during the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Inside Iran – and in protests abroad – the vocal monarchist movement has been championing its son. Reza Pahlavito assume leadership if Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the clerical establishment decline.

In Iran’s universities, there were also pro-regime protests and at least one violent clash between opposition groups. A protester who spoke to CBS News said speaking out risked jail or death. But since so many protesters have been killed, he said he feels guilty that he is still alive.

“I’m ashamed, as a human being, I’m ashamed that some people go out (on the street) and get killed – and I’m alive right now,” he said. “So I want my grief to be a voice for my people.”

He said he was one of many Iranians who protested last month in all 31 provinces and nearly 200 cities. On January 8, in Tehran, he said, “I saw people lying on the streets because they were shot. They died.” The next day, he said, “I saw a girl shot twice and I was too scared to go home.”

“What we are most afraid of is seeing this government come to power, so we go to protest again and again,” he said.

The protester asked not to be named because he is afraid the government will torture him. On camera, she covers her face and eyes with a scarf and dark glasses. CBS News confirmed that he is in Iran. The sunlight entered the room where he was sitting. He also showed a live news program showing the current situation in the country and said that he and many Iranians are watching the US military build-up in their area.

“I want to see a military intervention in Iran,” he said.

The US’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, passed through the Strait of Gibraltar over the weekend and is now in the Mediterranean Sea, approaching the Middle East. The Ford and its fleet of guided-missile destroyers, warships and at least one submarine join the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying ships, which have been in the region for about a month – making what officials describe as massive US military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq War.

“I feel very hopeful. I’m not afraid at all,” said the protester. “I feel happy about the change that the United States is bringing here. I want God to start a war here. I am not a person who likes war but in this situation, we have no other option.”

He said that if US military intervention comes to Iran, he believes “a lot of people will come out” to protest and try to topple the regime.

And with President Trump preparing to deliver his own State of the Union at his address on Tuesday night, he had a message of his own – and he hopes to get it across to Iran.

“President Trump, you told us that help is on the way,” she said. “You promised us that you will help us get through this. They don’t stop killing people in Iran. 11 people were killed today. Keep your promise and help us.”

He said he does not want talks between the US and Iran and called the Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi “terrorist.”

The next round of indirect expressionsmediated by Oman, is scheduled to take place in Geneva on Thursday.