Iran marked this year’s Fire Festival against the backdrop of six months of anti-regime protests, which have continued across the country despite a brutal wave of crackdown. Security forces have killed more than 750 people and arrested tens of thousands to suppress the protests. But people continue to take to the streets every day, calling for regime change and countering the regime’s repressive measures.
Traditionally, the Fire Festival, celebrated on the last Tuesday of the Persian calendar year, has been an occasion for protesting the regime. With the current explosive state of society, the regime had taken extra security measures to prevent any type of rally from taking place.
Meanwhile, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) had declared a nationwide protest campaign on the Fire Festival. And the people took to the streets nonetheless, celebrated the Fire Festival, and marked the end of the year with slogans such as “Death to the dictator!” and “Death to Khamenei!”
March 14 – Tehran, #Iran
Protesters in the Ekbatan district chanting:
"Death to Khamenei! Damned be Khomeini!"
"Death to the child-killing regime!"
"Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!"
"Death to the dictator!"#No2ShahNo2Mullahs#مرگ_بر_ستمگر_چه_شاه_باشه_چه_رهبرpic.twitter.com/dcsZ8q7hfF— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 14, 2023
Extreme security measures
Tasnim News Agency, run by the Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, had warned on March 13, “In recent years, the Fire Festival has turned into a battlefield, sometimes accompanied with large explosions.”
Different security authorities had declared preparations ahead of the Fire Festivals. State Security Forces and other intelligence and security bodies were in a state of alert across the country to prevent protests. According to regime officials, 45,000 troops were deployed in Tehran alone, and the IRGC and Basij had resorted to preemptive mass arrests and intimidation campaigns.
According to the semi-official ISNA news agency, the Majlis National Security Committee held a meeting on Monday, in which senior officials from the State Security Forces and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security each gave a report on the measures they had taken to prevent “the disruption of peace” on the last Tuesday of the year.
On the same day, the MOIS issued a statement, in which it boasted about using “various intelligence, security, and technical” methods to identify and arrest “terrorist teams” and various weapons. Commanders of the State Security Forces issued similar statements in different provinces.
At the same time, the regime’s state-run media outlets engaged in a full-fledged propaganda campaign to dissuade youth from joining the protests, including issuing threats and calling on parents to prevent their children from going out on Tuesday night.
March 14 – Izeh, soutwest #Iran
Locals are turning the annual Fire Festivities into anti-regime protests.#IranRevolution#مرگ_بر_ستمگر_چه_شاه_باشه_چه_رهبر pic.twitter.com/GY6zRgIJDs— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 14, 2023
Protests continue
In the weeks and days that led to Tuesday, rebellious youth targeted regime buildings and the headquarters of the IRGC and Basij in different cities. They tore and torched propaganda billboards and posters of regime leaders and icons. These measures helped keep the spirit and flame of the protests alive and prepare the society for Tuesday’s protests.
And despite the regime’s threats and measures, the brave people of Iran held protest rallies in many cities on Tuesday. Streets were filled with the sounds of firecrackers and slogans against the regime. Protesters chanted, “Death to Khamenei! Damned be Khomeini!” “We are back, the uprising continues!” and “Death to the oppressor, be it Shah or the mullahs!” In some locations, protesters clashed with security forces dispatched to quell their rallies.
In others, people blocked roads with fires and took control of streets to obstruct the movement of security forces.
In Zanjan, northwest Iran, protesters burned a monument of former IRGC Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani. In Karaj protesters attacked IRGC buildings to express their hatred of the regime and its oppressive security apparatus. In Mahabad, Saqqez, and across Tehran Province, regime authorities scrambled to contain the situation by sending reinforcements, but to no avail. Protests continued in dozens of cities late into the night.
The Fire Festival protests proved once again that the regime has failed to suppress the protests and the spirit of the uprising that began in September. This is a revolution in the making that will not be stopped until the people of Iran realize their dreams of a free, democratic republic.