As the mullahs’ regime ruling Iran has been escalating the number of executions across the country, reaching at least 90 counts since April 21, the Iranian people are continuing their protests against these brutalities. Brave youths and members of the network of Resistance Units affiliated to the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran have been launching new campaigns against the ruling dictatorship and their entire crackdown apparatus in response to the recent surge of brutal executions.
As the country is witnessing its 244th day of the nationwide uprising, people throughout Iran continue to specifically hold the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei responsible for their miseries, while also condemning the oppressive the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and paramilitary Basij units, alongside other security units that are on the ground suppressing the peaceful demonstrators.
Protests in Iran have to this day expanded to at least 282 cities. Over 750 people have been killed and more than 30,000 are arrested by the regime’s forces, according to sources of Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The names of 675 killed protesters have been published by the PMOI/MEK.
#IranProtests at a Glance- Tuesday, May 16, 2023#IranRevoIution pic.twitter.com/PtW9RGbweZ
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) May 17, 2023
Brave youths and members of the MEK network of Resistance Units across Iran have launched a new campaign of anti-regime attacks and measures in the capital Tehran and at least eight other cities, responding to the mullahs’ brutal wave of executions. These attacks and measures include:
- Brave youth attacked a branch of the regime’ so-called judiciary in Mashhad
- Brave youth attacked IRGC paramilitary Basij bases in the cities of Tehran, Arak, Kermanshah, and Urmia
- Brave youth attacked the so-called “Khomeini Relief Committee” in Urmia
- Brave youth attacked a branch of the regime’s bonyads (economic foundations) in Bandar Anzali that are involved in plundering the locals
- Brave youth attacked a so-called “Islamic Cultural Center” in Isfahan that the regime uses to promote the mullahs’ ideology of hatred, misogyny, and fundamentalism
- MEK Resistance Units defaced a large poster of former IRGC Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani in Shiraz
The families of arrested protesters who are sentenced to death are calling on locals and people across Iran to provide support and not allow the regime to execute their loved ones. Three imprisoned protesters have sent a hand-written note from inside Isfahan’s Dastgerd Prison on Wednesday indicating that their execution is imminent. They have signed this hand-written note as “The children of Iran”.
Hand-written note from inside Dastgerd Prison – Isfahan, central Iran – May 17, 2023The mother of Saeed Yaghoubi is calling on the Iranian people to launch anti-regime protests and prevent the execution of their loved ones, adding authorities allowed her to have a “last meeting” with her son, indicating their intention to hang him.
The father and wife of Saleh Mirhashemi have posted similar messages requesting the prevention of Salah’s execution.
Amnesty International is also raising alarm about the imminent execution of these three arrested protesters: “In Iran people are protesting outside prisons to stop further executions. Protesters Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi are at risk of imminent execution.”
In Iran people are protesting outside prisons to stop further executions. Protesters Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi are at risk of imminent execution. pic.twitter.com/rybdlTS5eE
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) May 17, 2023
Authorities have closed off roads leading to Dastgerd Prison on Wednesday night to prevent people from rallying outside the facility as they seek to stop the regime’s planned executions. Heavy traffic is reported in the area and some people are gathering near the prison after being able to reach the prison’s vicinity on foot. There are also reports that members of the regime’s IRGC paramilitary Basij units have opened fire on people gathering outside Dastgerd Prison.
May 17 – Isfahan, central #Iran
Authorities have closed off roads leading to Dastgerd Prison to prevent people from rallying outside the facility as they seek to stop the regime's planned executions.#StopExecutionsInIran pic.twitter.com/1nqvdSxtUF— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 17, 2023
Locals in different districts of the capital Tehran, including Ekbatan and Shahrak-e Bagheri, are chanting anti-regime slogans on Wednesday night, including:
“Down with Khamenei, the murderer!”
“Down with the republic of executions!”
“Down with the dictator!”
“Down with the IRGC and Basij!”
“Down with the murderous regime!”
May 17 – Tehran, #Iran
Locals in the capital's Ekbatan district are chanting anti-regime slogans, including:
"Down with the dictator!"
"Down with the IRGC and Basij!"#IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/VftOFj02ya— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 17, 2023
Pensioners and retirees of the regime’s Social Security Organization in Ahvaz, the provincial capital of Khuzestan, are holding rallies on Wednesday, protesting high prices, poverty, corruption, inflation, poor living conditions and officials’ refusal to address their demands.
Pensioners and retirees are among the worst-hit segments of Iran’s society. They depend on government stipends to make ends meet, but the regime has refused to increase their pensions in correspondence with growing inflation and the depreciation of the national currency.
The government has long provided many hollow promises of increasing pensions. It was also supposed to settle unpaid pensions remaining from previous years. So far, it has yet to deliver on both demands.
Interestingly, the regime’s own media reported that The Social Security Investment Company (SHASTA), the financial institution that is supposed to fund retirees, has seen a significant increase in its profits in the past years. However, these profits have yet to materialize in the lives of pensioners and retirees.
May 17 – Ahvaz, southwest #Iran
Additional footage of retirees and pensioners of the regime's Social Security Organization holding a gathering demanding their rights while protesting their low pensions.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/VHQnC35chl— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 17, 2023
In other news, natural resources workers in the city of Shiraz, south-central Iran, who have placed down payments for housing projects are rallying and demanding the houses they have long been neglected.
People in the city of Ilam, western Iran, who have placed down payments for homes are protesting the authorities’ refusal to deliver on their promises. Some of these people have been waiting for 12 years.
May 17 – Ilam, western #Iran
People who have placed down payments for homes are protesting the authorities' refusal to deliver on their promises. Some of these people have been waiting for 12 years.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/GJaGd4ZJBf— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 17, 2023
The protests in Iran began following the death of Mahsa Amini. Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, a 22-year-old woman from the city of Saqqez in Kurdistan Province, western Iran, who traveled to Tehran with her family, was arrested on Tuesday, September 13, at the entry of Haqqani Highway by the regime’s so-called “Guidance Patrol” and transferred to the “Moral Security” agency.
She was brutally beaten by the morality police and died of her wounds in a Tehran hospital on September 16. The event triggered protests that quickly spread across Iran and rekindled the people’s desire to overthrow the regime.
May 16 – Stockholm, Sweden
Freedom-loving Iranians and family members of political prisoners killed by #Iran's regime during the summer #1988Massacre rallying outside a Swedish court and calling for accountability.pic.twitter.com/i8u06UhAhrpic.twitter.com/8tPVnHY866— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 16, 2023
