Since last September, Iranians have been protesting their government over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after she was arrested for unsuitable attire.
Mohamad Faridi, president of Iranian Christians International, tells AFN protesters are also pushing for more rights for women, as well as for freedom from the Islamic regime. And throughout their efforts over the last few months, thousands have been arrested, tried, and punished.
"Many of them [didn't even go] through the court systems, and they have been executed, publicly executed," Faridi reports. "They have been lynched while the morning prayer call of Islamic mosques are going off in Iran. They are lynching the young men and women in the name of Islam and in the name of fighting with Allah."
The regime has also responded with police and military who have weapons, including tanks. Earlier this month, Reuter's reported that Iran's judiciary sentenced three anti-government protesters to death on charges of "waging war on God," defying growing international criticism over its fierce crackdown on demonstrators.
"They have tried all sort of tactics, all sort of deception, all sort of propaganda to quiet, to silence the Iranian people that they can maybe bribe them a little bit to go home and not to be seeking the overthrow of the government," Faridi says. "Praise God, none of those tactics, none of the deceptions [have] worked so far."
Though protests have reportedly slowed since the government began carrying out executions within weeks of arrests, the people are increasingly tired of the regime and its demand for a strictly conservative interpretation of the religion's requirements.
Both Muslim and Christian facets seek freedom to practice their religions in Iran, but Faridi warns that if other countries, including America, do not do more, then the Islamic regime will continue to use brutal tactics against the people there.
Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signaled the state has no intention of softening its position.
