Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, August 13, 2021—Electricity blackouts in downtown Tehran on Thursday night triggered anti-regime protests, with citizens going on rooftops and chanting anti-regime slogans.
Videos posted on social media show the protesters chanting, “Down with [regime supreme leader Ali] Khamenei,” “Down with the mullahs’ regime,” and “The regime’s leader is a disgrace.”
Similar protests took place in Tehran and other cities in July in response to electricity outages caused by poor management and destructive government policies. Electricity blackouts and water shortages have become a source of regular protests in Iran.
Regime officials have warned on several occasions about the possible ramifications of continued electricity shortage.
Mohammad Hassan Motevalizadeh, the CEO of Tavanir, the regime’s electricity distribution company, forecasted 2021 to be an “exceptional year” and declared “emergency conditions” for August.
The blackouts are taking place while Majlis (parliament) is pursuing a $500-million business opportunity through cryptocurrency mining and exporting electricity to neighboring countries.
On Thursday, medical interns of Hamedan Medical Sciences University held a protest rally and demanded regime authorities to respond to their demands. The interns have been deprived of their salaries while their internship entitles them to payment.
The protesters held a large placard that read “Students will die but won’t give in to disgrace” and “We won’t accept this new form of slavery.”
The students are facing extremely difficult working conditions especially as Iran is now grappling with a severe new wave of Covid-19 infections and hospitals across many provinces are over-capacitated and their staff are under an intense workload.
On Wednesday, a group of students from Tabriz Medical Sciences University held a demonstration in front of the main offices of the university, protesting problems in the dormitory. The students chanted slogans against regime officials and declared that the dean of the university is responsible for the bad conditions in the dormitory. The added security and surveillance measures by regime officials have made the situation worse for the students. The students said they will continue their protest until their demands are met.
On Thursday, the workers of Haft Tappeh sugarcane company, located in Shush, Khuzestan province, held the 31st day of their strikes, protesting the regime’s lack of response to their demands. The main demands raised by the protesting workers are:
– Immediate payment of their delayed paychecks and extension of their insurance booklets
– Their colleagues who have been expelled from their jobs be returned to work immediately
– All company officials involved in corruption be expelled from their posts
– Immediately returning all the embezzled money from the company to the workers
– General, fast, and free Covid-19 vaccination
Protests are taking place while economic conditions continue to deteriorate in Iran. On Thursday, the state-run Vatan-e Emrooz newspaper wrote, “Yesterday, the U.S. dollar was being traded at 267,000 rials in the free market, which is the highest price point since last November. It seems that in tandem with the announcement of the cabinet of the 13th administration, the rise in price of the dollar has accelerated. Many experts believe that the uncertain future of the economy and the implications of the new cabinet lineup have resulted in this price increase.”
