Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, August 1, 2021—Last week, Iran was the witness of a new wave of anti-regime protests. The protests began in Khuzestan against the water shortage but quickly turned political demonstrations calling for regime change and the ouster of Ali Khamenei, the regime’s supreme leader.
Other cities such as Isfahan, Tabriz, and Tehran people held anti-regime demonstrations in solidarity with Khuzestan protests.
On July 31, mothers of victims of the November 2019 protests bravely took to the street asking others to join them. "What are you waiting for?!" they ask.
In the crowdy Sadeghiyeh Metro of Tehran, the mother of Pejman Gholipour, 18-year-old youth killed in November 2019 protests shouted, “I am the mother of Pejman Gholipour, 18-year-old youth. He was killed with five bullets. They killed him with five bullets. I will shout across the world that I am Pejman’s mother. I am seeking justice for the unjustified murder of my son. I’m not afraid of anyone. Don’t wait for the day that your mothers will be holding your pictures in their hands… Rise. Don’t be slaves [of the regime].”
July 30 – Tehran, #Iran
Reports indicate regime authorities forced the mothers of protesters killed in the Nov 2019 protests into a metro train heading to the city of Karaj, west of Tehran.Mother of Pejhman Gholipour is heard protesting.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/ifumPKOoRb
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) July 30, 2021
During the whole week, the internal network of the Iranian opposition group the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) provided videos and pictures showing the expansion of protests.
The MEK’s internal network, also known as the Resistance Units, played an active role in supporting these protests. Across the country, they chanted slogans such as “We support Khuzestan,” “Death to Khamenei,” “Death to the dictator,” and “Down with the mullahs’ regime.”
One of the MEK activists told the Dutch Volkskrant, “At first people shouted that they were thirsty, but now the protests have become political. Now the people are chanting 'Death to Khamenei', the Supreme Leader of the country, and 'No to the oppressors.'"
Saeed, a 42-year-old MEK activist from Tehran told Die Welt, “In Tehran, we were a few thousands who marched on Monday. The people in Iran have had enough of mismanagement, corruption, and repression."
Iranian officials also showed their fear for the MEK’s growing influence and support among youth and being the driving force behind Iran protests. On July 24, the cleric, Mohammad-Ali Nekounam, Khamenei’s representative in Shahrekord, said in this week’s Friday Prayer, “The important thing is that the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) are still on their feet, and even today in Ahvaz, in Khuzestan, and one can see their footprint in Ahvaz and Khuzestan in creating chaos.”
The protests are continuing on the daily basis and the MEK’s Resistance Units are playing a key role in leading the protests.
During last week, the Resistance Units also commemorated the anniversary of the Eternal Light Operation in 1988. On July 25, 1988, the National Liberation Army (NLA) launched its largest operation, called “Eternal Light,” in which it targeted the entirety of the Iranian regime. The Iranian regime suffered 55,000 casualties, and on its part, the NLA lost 1,304 of its officers and soldiers, heroes who laid down their lives for the freedom of their country.
The Resistance Units bravely took to graffiti in public places and also installed posters of President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Maryam Rajavi and the Iranian Resistance leader Massoud Rajavi.
“Operation Eternal Light is an unforgettable epic in the history of Iranian people’s battles for freedom,” their banners and slogans read in various cities such as Tehran, Tabriz, Mashhad, Ahvaz, and Rasht.
In Kermanshah, locals visited a place of one of the iconic martyr of Operation Eternal Light Tahereh Toloe: “Here is Hassanabad Pass, which witnessed an epic seen of Operation Eternal Light. On the one hand, it showed the epic fight of MEK members, and on the other, the cruel and savage nature of the mullahs’ regime. The regime hanged the bloody body of Tahereh Toloe from that tree with a dagger in her heart. I cannot describe the epic fight of MEK members here. Yes, the blood of Tahereh Toloe is mixed with the blood of Resistance Units who are eager to overthrow the regime and avenge the blood of freedom fighters. Down with Khamenei, down with Raisi. Viva Rajavi. Viva martyrs, viva freedom. The region of Operation Eternal Light.”
On July 30 and 31, the MEK Resistance Units also sent out many videos in commemoration of the anniversary of the 1988 massacre.
One of the family members of the 1988 massacre from Ahvaz said, “I’m a mother of a victim of the 1988 massacre and I still don’t know where my child was buried. They [authorities] just told us that he/she is buried in Khavaran. Even in Khavaran, graves are unmarked. Ebrahim Raisi is a real executioner. As a grieved mother, I tell Ali Khamenei and Ebrahim Raisi that my child’s blood has not been in vain. It is now running in the veins of Resistance Units…. I thank Madam Maryam Rajavi for starting a public movement demanding accountability and justice for the victims of the massacre. And I urge international human rights organizations to rise for justice and to echo our voice. Down with Khamenei, down with Raisi, viva martyrs fallen for freedom, viva freedom, and viva Maryam Rajavi.”
In other cities such as Tehran, Shiraz, Babolsar, Tabriz, Torbat-e Jam, Ahvaz, Khorasan, Rasht, Kerman, Mazandaran, Noshahr, Mashhad, Karaj, Gorgan, Isfahan, Alborz, Shahriar, Amol, Bandar Abbas, Anzali, and Qazvin, the Resistance Units installed banners and posters in honoring those fallen for freedom during the 1988 massacre.
