Latest update – 6:30 pm CET
Iran’s nationwide uprising is marking its 111th day on Wednesday with protesters across the country continuing various protest measures against the mullahs’ rule. Brave locals in different cities throughout Iran have also been marking the third anniversary of the killing of Qassem Soleimani, former head of Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force, by burning billboards and posters of his image. This is parallel to the ongoing campaign of people voicing their hatred of the mullahs’ regime by torching images and anything symbolizing regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his entire apparatus of oppressive forces.
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 614 killed protesters have been published by the PMOI/MEK.
January 3 marked the third anniversary of the killing of Soleimani in a U.S. drone attack just outside of Baghdad International Airport. Protesters and courageous locals across Iran are expressing their hatred of Soleimani, and the regime in its entirety, by using Molotov cocktails and homemade explosives to target Soleimani’s posters, banners, placards, and billboards.
January 2 – Tehran, #Iran
A large billboard of former IRGC Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani was burned at 6:30 am this morning.#IranRevolution2023#مرگ_بر_ستمگر_چه_شاه_باشه_چه_رهبر pic.twitter.com/xy1mkPJ53W— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) January 2, 2023
In a report that has shaken the regime’s security apparatus, Qassem Fattollahi, a ranking IRGC member in Tehran and commander of an IRGC paramilitary Basij base in the Iranian capital was gunned down and killed outside of his home. Fattollahi suffered four gunshot wounds and most likely died at the scene, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, associated to the IRGC Quds Force.
In other news, two inmates by the names of Ahmad Bochaghchi and Aziz Beg-Hosseini were executed early Monday morning local time in Karaj Central Prison, local just west of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Furthermore, contract workers of the state communications company in Gilan Province, located in northern Iran, are on strike demanding answers to their long-raised dilemmas.
January 3 – Gilan Province, northern #Iran
Contract workers of the state communications company are on strike demanding answers to their long-raised dilemmas.#IranRevolution2023#اعتصابات_سراسری pic.twitter.com/1p5CUZzRCb— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) January 3, 2023
In the city of Semirom in Isfahan Province, central Iran, reports indicate that regime authorities have imposed martial law, according to local activists. Internet connections are heavily disrupted, and many people have been arrested at nights, reports indicate, with footage becoming available online with at least a 24-hour delay.
In the restive city of Javanrud in Kermanshah Province, western Iran, reports show that regime authorities have dispatched many security units to the city’s judiciary building and are installing security cameras at various areas. Officials are concerned of further protests by locals and are even preparing for possible attacks against various administrative buildings.
January 3 – Semirom, central #Iran
Regime authorities have imposed martial law, according to local activists. Internet connections are heavily disrupted. Many people have been arrested at nights.#IranRevolution2023#مرگ_بر_ستمگر_چه_شاه_باشه_چه_رهبر pic.twitter.com/EqsyD6m14E— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) January 4, 2023
In other reports, workers and employees of the Ilam Petrochemical Company went on strike today demanding answers to their dilemmas which have been raised with officials for some time now. They first held a gathering at the company plant and then moved their rally outside the local governor’s office.
In the city of Zahedan in Sistan & Baluchestan Province, southeast Iran, authorities flooded the city’s Kowsar Street and began arresting dozens of locals. Reports indicate similar arrests near Towhid Mosque and a nearby football field.
January 4 – Ilam, western #Iran
Workers and employees of the Ilam Petrochemical Company are on strike. They first held a gathering at the company plant and then moved their rally outside the local governor's office.#IranRevolution2023#مرگ_بر_ستمگر_چه_شاه_باشه_چه_رهبر pic.twitter.com/fSnxduy2bb— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) January 4, 2023
Iranian opposition coalition NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi weighed in on the regime’s continued crackdown and oppressive measures against the restive city of Javanrud in Kermanshah Province, western Iran, home to major anti-regime protests recently.
“Khamenei’s Intelligence Ministry and IRGC attacked people’s homes in Javanrud, arresting the city’s youths to prevent the continuation and spread of protests. Such cruelties only add to the Iranian people’s fury and motivation to topple the regime,” she said.
“Young people in Iran will not leave such arbitrary arrests and their perpetrators unanswered by their courageous uprisings. The United Nations and Member States need to take urgent action to compel the regime to stop executions, persecution, and torture in Iran. Silence tramples human rights,” the NCRI President-elect explained.
Khamenei’s Intelligence Ministry and IRGC attacked people’s homes in #Javanrud, arresting the city’s youths to prevent the continuation & spread of #Iranprotests. Such cruelties only add to the Iranian people’s fury and motivation to topple the regime.#IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/FeH5wYDtg9
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) January 3, 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.