Last update: 4:00 pm CET
The protests across Iran against the oppressive mullahs’ regime are now 94 days and counting as workers and employees of the country’s oil and gas sector started new strikes in various cities on Saturday. Students in various universities and high schools in different cities were also playing their part in holding various rallies and chanting anti-regime slogans. Similar scenes were reported in metro stations where protesters used the opportunity of having a large crowd to chant anti-regime slogans.
Protests in Iran have to this day expanded to at least 280 cities. Over 700 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 596 killed protesters have been published by the PMOI/MEK.
On Sunday, firefighters in Tabriz went on strike and held protest rallies in response to the regime’s lack of response to their demands regarding their wages, mismanagement by government authorities, and other grievances.
In Shiraz, the students of Shiraz Medical Sciences University held a protest rally and demanded the release of jailed students.
December 18 – Shiraz, #Iran
Students at Shiraz Medical Sciences University demand the release of jailed students.#IranRevolution2022#مرگ_بر_ستمگر_چه_شاه_باشه_چه_رهبر pic.twitter.com/TCLbzryNVm— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) December 18, 2022
Following the protests in Karaj Central Prison on Saturday, the situation is extremely tense and security presence is heavy at the notorious facility. According to reports at least one prisoner has been killed by security forces and dozens have been injured. All calls and meetings with prisoners have been cancelled.
On Saturday many employees and workers of Iran’s oil and gas industry launched a new round of strikes. These protest rallies have been reported from the cities of Ahvaz, Asaluyeh, Mahsahhr, Gachsaran, Mahmoud Abad, Khark Island, Bijar, and other cities and towns. These strikes, and others initiated by storeowners and bazaar merchants, cause significant turmoil among regime officials, especially as the mullahs’ economy has been tanking the rial, the national currency, has been nosediving recently.
Students of various universities and high schools throughout the country have also been protesting by boycotting their classes as they demand the return of their suspended classmates and the release of students apprehended as political prisoners in recent anti-regime rallies.
Reports today showed unrest at Karaj Central Prison, located west of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Inmates from Hall 3 began chanting “Death to Khamenei!” and “Death to the dictator!” protesting the transfer of four death row inmates for their execution
Four inmates from halls 2, 3, and 5 were summoned to be transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions, according to reports.
Reports show clashes between inmates and prison authorities, leaving a number of inmates injured. At around five in the afternoon local time a number of fire trucks, anti-riot units on motorcycles, and a number of other security units entered the hospital using ambulances as their cover.
The regime’s security forces opened fire on the prisoners and gunfire could be heard outside of the prison. Phone lines were down from the beginning of the unrest.
Other reports indicate the doors of the halls were broken and clashes continued. A large number of security units were stationed outside of the prison and the inmates’ families were not allowed to enter the prison area to seek answers about their loved ones.
Iranian opposition coalition NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi hailed the courageous oil and gas sector workers and employees who went on strike and the setbacks these measures imposed on the regime.
“I salute the honorable and hardworking oil workers of Asaluyeh, Ahvaz, Gachsaran, Khark Island, Mahshahr, and Tang-e Bijar who went on strike in solidarity with Iran’s nationwide protests. The only way for workers to gain their rights is overthrowing the ruling theocracy,” she said.
The NCRI President-elect sent a message to a Washington, D.C. conference in support of the uprising in Iran. “It is time for western governments to recognize the Iranian people’s struggle for regime change in Iran. Today, the world is suffering from terrorism, war, and insecurity due to the religious tyranny in Iran, but our message today is that Iran’s uprising and the revolution bare a gift for the Middle East and the world: peace, friendship, and peaceful coexistence,” Madam Rajavi explained.
Message to the Washington, D.C. conference in support of Iran uprising
It is time for western governments to recognize the Iranian people's struggle for #IranRegimeChange#IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/Id45ftSxB1— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) December 17, 2022
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.
