Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, January 16, 2021—In recent days, the regime’s suppressive centers across the country have been targeted as an act of public outrage toward the mullahs’ dictatorship. The rebellious and defiant youths torched the images of the regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei as an act of rejection of the mullahs’ regime in its entirety.
Six Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) Basij bases are set alight in Mashhad, Nishabur, Bojnurd, and Sisabad (Khorrasan). Basij suppressive bases in these areas. These acts reflect the public hatred toward the Basij, the much-hated paramilitary force of the regime. The main role of the Basij is to preserve the mullahs’ rule at any cost, through repressive measures against protests and demonstrations. The Basij played a prominent role in quelling the November 2019 protests, in which security forces killed over 1,500 protesters in the span of a few days.
Jan 15, 2021-Rebellious youth set fire to IRGC Basij signs
Also, in various places in Tehran, Mashhad, Hamadan, Langarud, and Eslamshahr, the rebellious youth burned images of regime’s officials including Khamenei and Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the terrorist Quds Force, showing the failure of the regime’s propaganda campaign in portraying the terror master as a national hero.
991025-Jan 14, 2021-Rebellious youth torch IRGC signs in Iran
Soleimani was killed on January 3, 2020, in a U.S. drone raid while he was on a secret trip in Iraq. Since his death, the regime has gone to great lengths to portray him as a national figure. But the Iranian people have been constantly tearing down and burning his images along with those of other regime figures and leaders. During major demonstrations following the regime acknowledging its military forces had downed the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, protesters burned posters of Soleimani and chanted “Soleimani is a murderer, just like his leader [Ali Khamenei].”
Jan 12, 2021-MEK Resistance Units torch banner of Ali Khamenei
These acts are carried out while the regime has strengthened its suppressive measures. In recent weeks dozens of executions were carried out across Iran. This shows the bravery of Iran’s rebellious youth, especially in Tehran, where security presence is very dense.
Since 2018, these acts of outrage toward the regime have been increasing. The Iranian society is faced with a high rate of poverty, inflation, and uemployment; a broken economy; and skyrocketing prices that stem from four decades of corruption and mismanagement uder the mullahs’ rule.
Five major uprisings have broken out in the past three years, in which people gathered to protest for their most basic rights but quickly turned economic demands into anti-regime demonstration were people chanted, "No Shah, No Sheikh (mullahs)," "down with the mullahs’ rule," "death to Khamenei," and "death to [Hassan] Rouhani,” the regime’s president.
Also, many regime officials are constantly warning about the possibility of a new wave of protests. On January 15, Abbas Akhoundi, the regime’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development, acknowledged the explosive state of Iran’s society. “Increasing social divisions pose a widespread risk, and the spread of corruption at various levels and general poverty are the results of these conditions. This nation is any moment waiting for something to happen," Akhoundi said.
Furthermore, on January 15, the Tasnim news agency quoted former IRGC commander Moshen Rezai who described the situation as “very tough” and warned for despair among regime forces and affiliates.
