A story by RFE/RL's Russian Service from the Georgian capital, Tblisi, where self-exiled Iranian citizens rallied in front of the Iranian embassy:
Dozens of self-exiled Iranian citizens who live in Georgia have rallied in front of the Iranian Embassy in Tbilisi, demanding the resignation of the Iranian President Hassan Rohani.
The protesters on January 3 also demanded that Iranian authorities begin democratic reforms and guarantee freedom of religion.
Many of Iranians living in Georgia say they are Christians who were forced to leave Iran because they were being persecuted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
One demonstrator, Ali Rusta, told RFE/RL that members of the IRGC openly threatened him with imprisonment and demanded that he renounce his Christian faith.
"I can freely attend a church here now" in Tbilisi, Rusta said.
In Iran, at least 22 people have been killed in a wave of antigovernment demonstrations that began December 28 in dozens of towns and cities across the country, including Tehran.
The deputy governor of Tehran, Ali Asgar Naserbakht, said on January 2 that more than 450 demonstrators have been arrested in the Iranian capital.
Iran's state-run television has broadcast live footage of the pro-government rallies on January 3, which appears to show demonstrators with Iranians flags, signs supporting the clerically overseen government and chanting "Death to America" a day after the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Iran’s "enemies" and the United States in particular of fomenting the unrest. (AP/Iran Press)
