Iran, November 11, 2019—A large number of retirees responded to a call to hold a rally on Sunday, November 10, by gathering outside the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament) in the capital, Tehran. The demonstrators were protesting poor living conditions and extremely low pensions. The brave retirees held their gathering at this site despite the fact that authorities had dispatched a large number of Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), oppressive police and plainclothes agents to the area in order to prevent any such demonstrations.
Authorities arrested five of the protesters, including one woman, confiscated their mobile phones and attempted to hinder the entire rally. However, the retirees were able to continue with their gathering by resisting the authorities’ measures.
The protesting retirees, most of them being women, were seen chanting:
“Release jailed teachers!”
“We are protesting all this injustice!”
“We have the right to hold protest rallies!”
“Release political prisoners!”
The mullahs’ regime dispatched hundreds of male and female members of its crackdown apparatus, and around 50 motorcyclists and a large number of plainclothes agents were sent outside the Majlis to confront the protest rally held by the retirees. Similar measures were carried out by Iranian regime authorities in the face of a similar gathering held outside the mullahs’ Budget and Planning Organization in Tehran.
Dozens of protesters were arrested as authorities attacked the protest gathering. Any attempts to take pictures or video footage of the rally were met with arrests or confiscation of mobile phones.
The Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) issued a statement praising the brave demonstrators and called on all Iranians, especially the youth in Tehran, to rise in their support. The NCRI also calls on the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights Commissioner and other human rights organizations to take urgent action for the release of those arrested.
In other news, on Sunday evening, courageous youth in the city of Shadegan, southwest Iran, poured into the streets of this town to hold demonstrations protesting the mysterious murder of a local man by the name of Hassan Heydari.
November 10 – Ahvaz, southwest #Iran
Anti-regime demonstration calling for people to rise up following the mysterious murder of a local poet. pic.twitter.com/hvTN9FRgxT— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 10, 2019
“At first Hassan felt as if he was suffering from food poisoning,” said a relative. “We took him to a hospital in the middle of the night where the nurses were attempting to provide him help the moment he arrived. He suddenly went into shock and his conditions deteriorated severely Sunday morning. We were told he lost his life due to poisoning… He was a strong young man with no illnesses or heart problems. The regime’s security institutions were involved in his death,” his relative added.
Heydari had been arrested a few times by Ahvaz intelligence agents several times for his anti-regime poetry. He was last arrested back in the summer of 2018 and released on bail.
Other youth in Kut Abdullah also protested Heydari’s suspicious death by holding a demonstration and blocking a local road. These demonstrations continued late into the night, lighting fires to maintain their control over various roads across the area.
