Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, December 19, 2019—The Fars news agency, known to be affiliated to the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), wired a report on Wednesday, December 18, citing Ali Akbar Javidan, head of state police in Kermanshah Province, western Iran. More than 250 protesters were arrested during the November uprising in this province alone, Javidan said, describing the individuals as “riot leaders.”
“Javidan reported of more than 250 individuals among the riot leaders in this province,” according to the Fars report. “These individuals resorted to creating insecurity and riots in various cities of this province and instigated many other youths to join the riots and street clashes,” he added. This further indicates the hate among the Iranian people, especially the younger generation regarding the mullahs’ regime.
Kermanshah, western #Iran
People are throwing rocks to protect themselves from the regime's security forces attacking their protest gathering. Locals are angry over a national gasoline price hike.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/4BjIbvZlw5— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) 16 November 2019
“Causing riots, instigating the public to cause havoc and protests, destroying public property and inflicting damage to government buildings, breaking windows of emergency vehicles and private cars, attacking police officers and members of the IRGC Basij are among the crimes these arrested individuals are charged with,” the Kermanshah Province police chief added.
Javidan even said spreading propaganda on the internet and dissident networks is also considered crime committed by these individuals. “A number of them have acknowledged having connections with terrorist groups and enemies of the [state]… Inspections conducted on the riot leaders’ hideouts in Kermanshah Province have led to the discovery of more than 30 firearms along with some bullets,” he added.
Fars’ report comes on the heels of other officials claiming to have arrested the leaders of the November protests in a bid to pretend having regained control of the situation. The regime is also airing forced confessions on its state-run TV to further create an environment of fear and dissuade people from joining the protests.
Meanwhile, other Iranian officials are expressing fear that the threat of protests and other crises have not yet been contained.
Former IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari said, “In this period, all the threats against the Islamic Revolution persist. The military threat of our enemies still hangs over our heads. You can also see the security threat. They’re using every opportunity to cause insecurity.”
Jafari also claimed that economic, cultural and political threats and pressures are aimed at pitting the people against the regime. “Unfortunately, there are some who are supporting them inside the country,” Jafari said.
Other authorities revealed what Jafari explicitly refrained from saying, which is the regime’s fear of organized protests and the growing influence of Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) across the country.
On Wednesday, the state-run ISNA news agency quoted Mehdi Amiri Isfahani, the security deputy of the general prosecutor, as saying, “The [MEK] had created networks in the fringes of cities and had attracted 18-20-year-old youth to create organized groups for the riots.”
Amiri Isfahani, who was speaking at a briefing conference with foreign ambassadors, claimed that the MEK had demanded their supporters to “attack the national broadcasting station and fuel storage centers.”
“Their goal was to attack military centers and obtain weapons,” Amiri Isfahani said.
