Iran Regime’s Factional Feuding Escalates During Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s Funeral

Iranians, who took part in the funeral procession of former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in Tehran yesterday, chanted “Death to Russia” and accused its embassy of being an espionage hub, Arabi 21 reported.

Authorities were forced to raise the volume on the loudspeakers playing lamentation songs after some in the crowds took up cries of “Oh, Hussein, Mir Hussein,” a reference to a former presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, who has been under house arrest since 2011.

Some of the chants were aimed at Russia, Iran’s ally in the Syrian conflict. Video clips on social media showed mourners shouting “Death to Russia” and “the Russian Embassy is the den of espionage,” as they passed the embassy’s complex in the heart of Tehran. People also called for the release of hunger strikers in Iranian prisons.

State television, broadcasting the funeral live, airbrushed the protests, which were nevertheless allowed to proceed without police intervention.

Agencies/Canadajournal