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Iran’s protests gain strength on the eve of sixth month

By Mahmoud Hakamian
Iran Protests - February 11, 2023
According to latest reports protesters in at least 282 cities throughout Iran’s 31 provinces have taken to the streets for 149 days now seeking to overthrow the mullahs’ regime. Over 750 have been killed by regime security forces and at least 30,000 arrested, via sources affiliated to the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK.

Latest update – 9:30 pm CET

Iran’s nationwide uprising is marking its 149th day on Saturday as people across the country are continuing their anti-regime protests with nightly campaigns of chanting slogans against the mullahs’ dictatorship. Protesters in Tehran and different cities are shouting anti-regime slogans against the entire regime apparatus, from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), to the 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

Iranian opposition coalition NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi delivered an online message to a conference at the Norwegian Parliament in which dignitaries from different countries were present, including the former prime minister of Iceland.

“Forty four years after the 1979 anti-monarch revolution in Iran, a new revolution to end the religious tyranny is in the making. Despite any ups and downs, the situation will never return to before the uprisings. The era of religious tyranny in Iran has come to an end. Iran’s society is in an explosive state, with the people of Iran on one side and the ruling regime, its repressive organs and the IRGC on the other,” the NCRI President-elect explained.

“A key tactic utilized by the regime has been the launch of a massive campaign to imply there is no credible democratic alternative in Iran, and thus regime change will lead to chaos. The result: an increased demonization campaign against the NCRI and MEK during the uprisings,” she added.

“Without the presence of a democratic alternative such as the NCRI, the regime may convince the international community that there is no option other than to come to a compromise with the current regime. The NCRI aims to establish a democratic Republic based on free elections, separation of religion and state, gender equality, while rejecting of all discriminations against religious minorities, and recognizing autonomy for oppressed ethnic groups within Iran’s borders. It is time for Europe to hear the Iranian people’s voice. Blacklist the IRGC as a terrorist entity, and recognize the Iranian people’s resistance and their right to self-defense,” the NCRI President-elect concluded.

On Saturday night, locals in Tehran’s different districts, including Shahran, Vahdat Street and Tehranpars, and the city of Mashhad began chanting anti-regime slogans despite the extremely cold winter conditions. The slogans included:
“Death to the republic of executions!”
“Death to the dictator!”
“Death to Khamenei, the murderer!”
“We don’t want an Islamic republic!”
“[Khamenei] is a disgrace!”

Workers of a copper mine in the city of Sirjan of Fars Province in south-central Iran are on strike today. 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.

On Friday night, locals in Tehran’s Bagh-e-Feyz, Afsariyeh, Enghelab (Revolution) Square, and other districts, along with people in the cities of Mashhad, Karaj, Sanandaj, Bandar Abbas, Kerman, Kermanshah, Qazvin, and Fardis began chanting anti-regime slogans despite the extremely cold winter conditions. The slogans included:
“Death to the dictator!”
“Death to Khamenei!” Damned be Khomeini!”
“This is the year Seyed Ali (Khamenei) is overthrown!”
“Death to [regime agents]!”
“Khamenei, you murderer! We will bury you!”
“Mullahs must get lost!”

Protesters took to the streets in the cities of Zahedan and Khash in Sistan & Baluchestan Province in anti-regime protests on Friday. This included members of Iran’s Baloch ethnicity who live in the northeast parts of the country and held a demonstration in the city of Galikesh in Golestan Province in support of their local leaders and voicing their dissent against the mullahs’ regime.
The protesting Balochis were chanting different slogans, including:
“Death to Khamenei!”
“Death to the oppressor! Be it the Shah or [Khamenei]!”
“No to a monarchy! No to the [mullahs’ regime]! Democracy and equality!”
“Death to the Basij!”
“Basij & IRGC, you are our ISIS!”
“I will kill those who killed my brother!”
“We don’t want an ISIS-like governor!”
“From Zahedan to Tehran, my life for Iran!”
“Khamenei, have some shame! Let go of the country!”
“Political prisoners must be released!”

There were also similar reports of protests in the city of Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan Province, where people are rallying in support of their local religious leaders who have been harassed and arrested by the regime’s intelligence apparatus.
They’re chanting:
“Death to the dictator!”
“Death to Khamenei!”

Iranian opposition coalition NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi hailed the Balochis’ ongoing protests against the regime to establish freedom, democracy, and equality by overthrowing the mullahs’ dictatorship.

“The brave Baluch people in Zahedan once again took to the streets today on the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution that deposed the Shah. With chants of ‘No to Monarchy, no to the mullahs’ leader, (only) democracy and equality’ and ‘Death to the oppressor be it the shah or Khamenei,’ our compatriots showed the Iranian people’s will for freedom and the regime’s overthrow, just as it was their desire in 1979,” the NCRI President-elect explained.

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.

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Mahmoud Hakamian
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