Latest update – 8:45 pm CET
Iran’s nationwide uprising is marking its 151st day on Monday and entering its sixth month as Iranians throughout the country and the Diaspora across the globe are expanding their movement against the mullahs’ regime. Protesters in Tehran and other cities across Iran are braving all odds to continue their protests with growing momentum, using every opportunity to write anti-regime slogans and burning pro-regime propaganda billboards, posters, and banners. These are the means used by the Iranian people to voice their hatred and yearning of overthrowing the mullahs’ dictatorship, including the oppressive Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and paramilitary Basij 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 the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The names of 647 killed protesters have been published by the PMOI/MEK.
Over 10,000 Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and the MEK as the cornerstone member, gathered from across the globe in Paris to voice their solidarity with Iran revolution protests. This massive demonstration and march through the streets of Paris displayed the Iranian people’s growing will and momentum to continue the ongoing protests against the regime of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to establish freedom and democracy in their country.
Several distinguished European politicians and lawmakers from France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and other countries delivered strong speeches at this event, voicing their continued support for the Iranian people’s democratic aspirations. This included the Iranian nations’ utter rejection of any form of tyranny. The keynote speaker of this event was NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi.
Iranian opposition coalition NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi delivered a message to the 10,000-strong Paris rally emphasizing on the history of the Iranian people’s struggles, from overthrowing Shah’s dictatorship in 1979 to the ongoing uprising in Iran’s streets these days aiming for a democratic Republic.
“On the anniversary of the anti-monarchical revolution in light of the glorious uprising in Iran, and the continuous price being paid with lives on the streets, the word revolution has emerged and triumphed, breaking the yokes of the Shah and the mullahs’ tyranny. In the absence of Iran’s true leaders who were either killed or imprisoned, [mullahs’ regime founder Ruhollah] Khomeini hijacked the revolution. In reality, he was the heir to Shah’s throne, elevating the legacy of crimes and atrocities perpetrated by the Shah and his father to new heights,” she explained.
On the anniversary of the anti-monarchical revolution in light of the glorious uprising in Iran,& the continuous price being paid with lives on the streets the word REVOLUTION has emerged and triumphed braking the yokes of the Shah and the mullahs tyrannyhttps://t.co/YkmIVYKzMW
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) February 12, 2023
“We find ourselves in the midst of a new democratic revolution when our people strive for a democratic Republic, free from torture violence oppression, dependency, and dictatorship, whether draped in a turban or a crown remains dictatorship,” the NCRI President-elect reiterated.
“The IRGC must be proscribed as a terrorist entity by the European Union. The IRGC, Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), used as a diplomatic façade for the regime’s bombing plots, must be disbanded. This is the Iranian people’s demand and indispensable to regional and global peace. It is the fundamental right of the Iranian people to reclaim their country from the shackles of religious fascism. Brave youth have the right to defend themselves against the IRGC and plainclothes agents, and the barrage of bullets that pierce their eyes heads and hearts,” Madam Rajavi underscored.
I express my utmost appreciation to the elected officials and esteemed personalities who took part in the impressive demonstration of Iranians in Paris today. Your unwavering support and alliance with the Iranian Resistance's quest for freedom is sincerely valued. pic.twitter.com/SXAPbXwtfT
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) February 12, 2023
Despite the extremely cold winter conditions, on Monday night locals in Tehran’s Narmak district began chanting anti-regime slogans, including:
“Death to the dictator!”
February 13 – Tehran, #Iran
Locals in the capital's Narmak district are chanting anti-regime slogans, including:
"Death to the dictator!"#IranRevoIution #مرگ_بر_ستمگر_چه_شاه_باشه_چه_رهبر pic.twitter.com/ujySwUIj4T— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) February 13, 2023
On Monday, retirees and pensioners of the regime’s telecommunications industry in Tehran, Kermanshah, Ahvaz, Isfahan, Mashhad, and Ilam rallied again and were seen protesting their low pensions and poor economic conditions. This continues previous rallies held on the last two Mondays in the cities of Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Yazd, Rasht, Sanandaj, Kermanshah, Ahvaz, Ilam, Khorramabad, Shahrekord, and Urmia.
In the past few years, retirees across Iran have been protesting their deteriorating living conditions, especially as the government refuses to adjust their pensions based on the inflation rate and fluctuations in the price of the rial, Iran’s national currency.
February 13 – Ilam, western #Iran
Retirees and pensioners of the regime's communications industry are protesting low pensions and poor economic conditions.#IranProtests2023 pic.twitter.com/qlelsrmC7G— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) February 13, 2023
Workers of a copper mine in the city of Sirjan of Fars Province in south-central Iran are on strike on Monday for a fourth consecutive day. They’re protesting paycheck delays that have continued for months and their inadequate insurance pensions that are depriving themselves and their families of the healthcare they need and deserve.
In Tehran, part-time workers and employees of the regime’s state oil company are holding a rally on Monday protesting and demanding their delayed bonuses. Many have been kept waiting for these bonuses since March 2022.
Workers of the Bardsir Mashiz steel factory in Kerman, south-central Iran, protested outside the local governor’s office on Monday. This factory has been shut down after 28 years and no company official is providing any answers to these workers.
Local municipality workers in the city of Ilam, western Iran, held a gathering protesting their delayed paychecks. Some of these workers have not been paid since June 2022.
Disabled citizens are rallying in Tehran today, demanding pensions that are owed to them and they have been denied for months, some for years. The regime has been constantly deducting from their own state budget officially allocated to disabled individuals.
February 13 – Tehran, #Iran
Disabled citizens are rallying and demanding pensions that are owed to them. The regime has been constantly deducting from the state budget allocated to disabled individuals.#IranProtests2023pic.twitter.com/LXOvqELXEs— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) February 13, 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.
