Videos of protesters in Tehran tearing up pictures of former IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani have surfaced on Twitter. Another video showed protesters burning a billboard memorializing Soleimani.شاهد بالفيديو: قمع المظاهرات في #طهران وهتافات "الموت للديكتاتور" pic.twitter.com/BU23pLWNwZ
— الحدث (@AlHadath) January 12, 2020
Tabriz NW #Iran #IranProtests20202 #IraniansDetestSoleimani #IraniansWantRegimeChange https://t.co/xpsZbP8utD
— Iran News Wire (@IranNW) January 12, 2020
Another video circulated on social media showed security forces beating protesting women in Sanandaj in Western Iran. Similar reports of security forces beating protesters appeared in other cities as well.
On this 2nd day of anti-regime demonstrations in Iran, protests are spreading outside of Tehran againThis is a protest video I've received from SanandajSecurity forces are violently beating female protesters.Iranians are angry with the regime for downing a civilian aircraft pic.twitter.com/ILEPJHWQhV
— Masih Alinejad ️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 12, 2020
US President Donald Trump, in a tweet on Sunday, urged Iranian leaders not to kill protesters, referring to protests in November when over a thousand protesters were killed and thousands more were injured and arrested.
Some reports claimed that security forces were firing directly at protesters, and a video being circulated showed blood from injuries in the incident, but this has not yet been confirmed.
Videos circulated on social media on Sunday evening showed security forces firing tear gas at protesters in Tehran, as demonstrations blocked traffic in the city.
Protests swept through the country on Saturday and Sunday after the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps admitted that it had shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing all those on board, during an Iranian missile attack on US bases in Iraq. Sources told Iran International that civilian flights in the area were allowed to continue in order to provide a "human shield" against a possible US response.