Iran’s nationwide uprising is witnessing its 245th day on Thursday following a busy day of protests by people in Isfahan backed by other Iranians in Tehran, Sanandaj, and others as they sought to prevent authorities from executing three inmates in Isfahan. As reports began circulating about authorities informing the families of three inmates in Isfahan’s Dastgerd Prison regarding their “final meeting” with their loved ones, activists were raising awareness about the regime’s possible intention to hang Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi. Amnesty International had issued statements in this regard calling for measures to stop the regime from carrying out these atrocities. Nightly protests in Isfahan and other cities led to regime authorities being forced to publicly say reports of executions being scheduled for early Thursday morning were false.
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- Wednesday, May 17, 2023#IranRevoIution pic.twitter.com/epxGKlVunn
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) May 18, 2023
Authorities in Isfahan had closed off roads leading to the city’s Dastgerd Prison on Wednesday night to prevent people from rallying outside the facility as they sought to stop the regime’s planned executions. Heavy traffic was reported in the area and some people were gathering near the prison after being able to reach the prison’s vicinity on foot. There were also reports that members of the regime’s IRGC paramilitary Basij units opened fire on people gathering outside Dastgerd Prison.
May 17 – Isfahan, central #Iran
Activists are reporting that members of the regime's IRGC paramilitary Basij units are opening fire on people gathering near Dastgerd Prison.#StopExecutionsInIran pic.twitter.com/4jk7eYj1S6— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 17, 2023
According to reports received from the family of Saeed Yaghubi, a protester arrested by the mullahs’ regime during the recent Iran revolution and sentenced to death, regime authorities in the city of Isfahan, central Iran, had given his family their last visit on Wednesday and intended to execute Saeed.
The families of arrested protesters who are sentenced to death have been calling on locals and people across Iran to provide support and not allow the regime to execute their loved ones. Three imprisoned protesters 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”.
The mother of Saeed Yaghoubi issued a call 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 posted similar messages requesting people’s help to prevent Saleh’s execution.
Amnesty International has also been 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 other reports from inside Iran, activists are saying authorities in Sanandaj Central Prison, western Iran, have executed an inmate by the name of Mostafa Salehi, from the city of Sarvabad in Kurdistan Province. Similar reports from Jiroft of Kerman Province in south-central Iran indicate that a Baluch prisoner by the name of Nader Rigi-Golbache was executed in this city’s prison.
According to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, a second inmate has been executed today in Sanandaj Central Prison. At 7:30 am this morning local time, Jamshid Karimi, a young man from the city of Dehgolan and living in Sanandaj, was hanged. His execution was carried out while at 6:30 am an official judiciary order was issued to have the execution stopped and Karimi transferred back to the ward.
Based on reports from inside Iran, at least 16 inmates have been executed by the regime’s authorities on this day alone, including five in Khorramabad, four in Kerman, two in Sanandaj, two in Rasht, and one in Jiroft. Two inmates in a prison of Kurdistan Province have been executed, according to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.
#Iran’s regime has executed 14 inmates today under Khamenei’s orders
5 in Khorramabad
4 in Kerman
2 in Rasht
2 in Sanandaj
1 in JiroftThree of the 14 victims are from Iran’s Baluch community
At least 107 executions since April 21; one every six hours#StopExecutionsInIran pic.twitter.com/INtbEyAR7L
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 18, 2023
May 18 – Junaqan, southwest #Iran
Locals are holding a ceremony marking the memory of Jamshid Mokhtari, killed by the mullahs' regime during #IranRevolution protests one year ago today. They're chanting:
"Down with the dictator!"
"Down with Khamenei!"pic.twitter.com/UKr89x3Qlk— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 18, 2023
Locals in Isfahan and different districts of the capital Tehran, including Ekbatan, Chitgar, and Shahrak-e Bagheri, were 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!”
Activists say protesters in Sanandaj, the provincial capital of Kurdistan, established roadblocks and attacked a branch of the regime’s Bank Tejarat late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning to voice their protests to the regime’s intention to execute the three inmates in Isfahan.
The Mizan news agency, the official news agency of the mullahs’ so-called judiciary, wired a report claiming that widespread reports about the authorities’ intention to execute the three inmates in Isfahan were false, indicating the regime kneeling under public pressure.
May 17 – Sanandaj, western #Iran
Activists say protesters established roadblocks and attacked a branch of the regime's Bank Tejarat to voice their protests to the regime's intention to execute three inmates in Isfahan.#StopExecutionsInIran#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/Wca85g7hMu— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 18, 2023
Bakery owners in Ardabil, northwest Iran, are holding a rally on Thursday protesting the officials’ decision to decrease their flour rations. This is hurting their business and preventing them from providing the necessary amount of bread the locals need to feed their families.
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 17—Cologne, Germany
Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the #Iran opposition PMOI/MEK rallied in solidarity with #IranRevolution & condemned the regime's recent surge in executions.#StopExecutionsInIran#No2ShahNo2Mullahspic.twitter.com/rOr84gVIXtpic.twitter.com/QGohhjFyvE— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 17, 2023
