January 10, 2020
On the 40th day after the violent mid-November protests erupted, the regime deployed forces at cities and cemeteries all around Iran to prevent any new protests on the traditional day of mourning.
In 1978, the revolution against the Shah was renewed every 40th day as protesters gathered to mourn the deaths of protesters 40 days earlier.
The regime clearly feared a renewal of that practice and worked hard to stifle any protest before it could begin. Families of those killed in mid-November were told not to hold any mourning events and to stay at home. Some were reported to have been taken into detention a few days before the 40th day, which was December 26.
Scattered, but small, protests and mourning events were reported. But no deaths were reported, so that there will not be any 40th day of mourning in February.
The regime, which freely shot and killed protesters in mid-November, withheld fire this time and appeared to work hard to avoid any deadly clash. The goal was to stop any protests before they could get started by having large numbers of security officers at cemeteries and in the main squares of cities. Armed officers also paraded through neighborhoods and sent officers with arms visible on motorcycles up and down city streets.
In addition, Netblocks, which monitors cutoffs of cellphone and Internet service, said there were scattered disruptions in Iran that day, but not a total shutdown as happened in mid-November.
It largely worked. There were some small gatherings and reports of 50 arrests that could not be confirmed.
The regime has still not announced how many people were killed during the five days of protests in November or how many have been arrested or how many remain in detention.
The government has, however, said that no foreigners were arrested, denying rumors that two French nationals had been caught in the protests.
A variety of figures on the death toll are circulating. Amnesty International has not updated its figure from a month ago that it had documented the deaths of 304 people—a minimum number, not a total. Reuters said its sources inside the Iranian government told it that 1,500 had died.
Interestingly, Iran has given publicity to the Palestinian announcement that Israel shot and killed 149 people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the full year of 2019.