Wearing symbolic eye patches, Montreal Iranians protest in support of Zahedan

Protesters in Montreal’s Iranian community, many of them wearing bloodied eye patches, gathered at Place des Festivals Saturday to once again show their support with demonstrators in Iran.

The protest was specifically organized in support of the eastern Iranian city of Zahedan, which has seen some of the deadliest violence since the nationwide demonstrations began in September.

Protesters wore eye patches, claiming the Iranian police and military are shooting live rounds at protesters’ eyes to make them blind. They say it’s a visual representation of what the Iranian government is doing to them.

“It’s important to be here because people in Iran are fighting against their government, against the fundamentalist government in Iran,” said protester Nima Machouf.

“It is very important not only for us Irainian people, but also it should be important for all of the people all over the world.”

Those living in Zahedan are considered a minority – estimated at two million people – that have faced discrimination and repression for decades, according to human rights groups.

Open Gallery 8 items

Activists say security forces opened fire on crows of demonstrators on Sept. 30, killing nearly 100 people in Zahedan. Residents refer to the day as “Bloody Friday.”

Outrage spread after allegations that a Baluch teenager had been raped by a police officer, fueling deep tensions in the underdeveloped region home to minority Sunni Muslims in the Shiite theocracy.

RELATED:

• Montrealers call on Canada to recognize Iran’s IRGC as terror group
• Montrealers mark 3rd anniversary of Flight PS752 downing
• Montrealers protest violent crackdown in Iran, execution of prisoner

Protests in Iran first erupted after the Sept. 16 death of a 22-year-old woman who was being held by the country’s morality police.

They rapidly escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s ruling clerics and an end to the theocracy established after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

WATCH: Montrealers denounce Iran’s leadership

Montrealers have consistently shown their support for the people of Iran, with several downtown protests in the fall and throughout the winter.

Protesters are also requesting for Canada and the governments of Western countries to declare the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG), a branch of the Iranian military, a terrorist group.

“They’re getting killed every day, especially the kids,” said a demonstrator in Montreal. “And women are getting tortured, raped in the prison of Islamic Republic of Iran. This government is a terrorist government, and we don’t want this government anymore.”

—With files from The Associated Press