On Friday at dawn, the Iranian regime executed three protesters after torturing them physical and mentally for several months. Riddled with domestic and international crises, regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei has increased oppression in his last-ditch effort to prolong his regime’s life.
The brutal hanging of Saleh Mirhashmi, Majid Kazemi, and Saeed Yaghoubi was in line with a recent surging wave of executions across Iran. According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the regime has carried out at least 122 executions in the past 30 days, including five on Saturday.
Facing a restive society and growing international isolation, Khamenei has ordered these executions in a bid to quell the explosive nation despite a growing global outcry. He is following the footsteps of his predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini, who massacred over 30,000 political prisoners in 1988 to consolidate power in the ruling theocracy after being forced to stop the Iran-Iraq war.
While Khamenei had high hopes of intimidating the society by executing the three arrested protesters, his plan backfired as people poured into the streets, holding protests and chanting anti-regime slogans.
Locals in several districts of the capital, Tehran, Ekbatan, and Tehranpars, held rallies on Friday afternoon and evening, chanting “Down with Khamenei, the murderer!” and “Down with the state of executions!” Reports by the Iranian opposition, Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), network inside Iran indicate similar protests in other cities such as Karaj, Mashhad, Mahabad, Dehgolan, Golshahr, Bandar Abbas, and Podol in Hormozgan Province.
In addition, brave youth and members of the MEK Resistance Units launched a campaign of anti-regime activities and attacks on Friday and early Saturday in response to the execution of three Iran uprising arrestees. In Isfahan, brave youths attacked a municipality branch. In Isfahan and Tehran, brave youths attacked at least two bases of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) paramilitary Basij. In Golpaygan, brave youths attacked the office of the regime’s local Majlis (parliament) member.
MEK Resistance Units in Kerman torched a large poster of Khamenei, regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini, and former IRGC Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani
After various failed tactics to quell the nationwide protests, such as promoting fake alternatives and emphasizing useless solution solutions of “civil disobedience,” the recent executions were Khamenei’s final gambit.
The recent executions symbolize Khamenei’s desperate attempts to prevent the imminent collapse of his regime as the protests have transformed into an unwavering democratic revolution. Nevertheless, the society’s steadfast response has foiled his malicious plot.
It is time for the international community to take concrete steps to support the Iranian people’s revolution. Presently, offering words of support, eloquent resolutions, or verbal denouncements will not halt the regime’s bloodshed. The regime has proven time and again that it only responds to language of force.
