Iran’s Protesters Mark ‘Bloody Friday’ Deaths

Demonstrators in southeastern Iran clashed with security forces as they gathered to mourn the deaths of dozens of people during the antigovernment protests that have swept across the country, in one of the most serious challenges to the clerical establishment in decades.

More than 82 people died on Friday, Sept. 30, as security forces cracked down on demonstrations in Sistan-Baluchistan, rights groups say. The province is one of the largest and poorest in Iran and home to an ethnic Sunni Muslim minority. In recent days, hundreds of people have gathered in the provincial capital of Zahedan to mark 40 days—an important period in Islamic mourning—since the incident, which protesters have called “Bloody Friday.”