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People in Iran protest growing economic struggles, criticize regime corruption

By Mahmoud Hakamian
Iran Protests - February 24, 2023
According to latest reports protesters in at least 282 cities throughout Iran’s 31 provinces have taken to the streets for 162 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 – 4:30 pm CET

Iran’s nationwide uprising is marking its 162nd day following a week of protests by people from all walks of life as the country’s national currency and economy, in general, continue to nosedive. Protesters in dozens of cities and towns took to the streets protesting the regime’s corrupt policies and incompetence as the prices of basic necessities and services are skyrocketing. Regime officials are increasingly concerned, knowing these protests are the prelude for more anti-regime rallies that will rock the mullahs’ apparatus to its very core.

People throughout the country are specifically holding the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei responsible for their miseries, while also condemning the oppressive 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 the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The names of 647 killed protesters have been published by the PMOI/MEK.

Protesters in Zahedan have taken to the streets following today’s weekly prayers and are seen chanting anti-regime slogans. Authorities are imposing heavy crackdown measures and disrupting internet connections. Protesters in the streets are chanting different slogans, including:
“Death to Khamenei!”
“Death to the dictator!”
“Death to the oppressor! Be it the Shah or [Khamenei]!”
“No to monarchy! No to [mullahs’ regime]! Democracy!”
“Basij and IRGC, you are our ISIS!”
“I will kill those who killed my brother!”
“We swear on the blood of the fallen that we will stand to the very end!”

Regime authorities dispatching numerous security units to the streets failed to prevent thousands of protesters from taking to the streets in anti-regime rallies.

Members of the Baloch community in the city of Galikesh in northeast Iran were also continuing to protest today against the regime’s oppression and apprehension of their local religious leaders, while also voicing their grievances over the country’s plummeting economy.

Regime security forces were deployed in large numbers on Friday in the city of Iranshahr in Sistan & Baluchestan Province, southeast Iran, and prevented people from gathering at the Nour Mosque for their weekly prayers.

The internet monitoring organization, NetBlocks, said there was a “significant disruption to internet connectivity” in Zahedan amid today’s tensions.

Regime authorities were attempting to disrupt today’s Friday prayers in Zahedan in southeast Iran and the follow-up weekly protests. Their forces are seen attacking and apprehending locals near the city’s Grand Makki Mosque, deploying security units with heavy equipment on hilltops overlooking the city, disrupting internet connections, and attempting to enter the mosque to take control over the facility and its surrounding areas. Reports indicate the mosque security personnel have been able to prevent the IRGC units’ measures near the mosque.

In Khash, another city of Sistan & Baluchestan Province, regime authorities are ordering security forces to patrol the streets to install a general climate of fear and prevent people from attending the weekly Friday prayers and anti-regime protests in this restive city. Local activists say all plans will go ahead as scheduled and the people of this city are not succumbing to the regime’s crackdown measures.

Iranian opposition coalition NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi condemned the regime’s crackdown against Zahedan and other cities of Sistan & Baluchestan, while calling on local compatriots to rise in solidarity with Zahedan’s brave people.

“Criminal IRGC surrounds Makki Mosque on Khamenei’s orders, fearing protests by Zahedan’s brave people. They arrested many and mosque security. I urge Zahedan and nearby cities’ youths to rise in solidarity with Makki Mosque worshipers,” the NCRI President-elect explained.

On Thursday night, locals in Tehran’s Tehransar district began chanting anti-regime slogans, including:
“Death to the dictator!” referring to regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“Death to the child-killing regime!”
“This is the last message: the whole regime is the target!”

Locals in the Grand Bazaar area and the Aladdin shopping complex in Tehran took to the streets on Wednesday protesting the country’s deteriorating economy and the nosediving national currency.

People in a metro station in the capital Tehran began chanting anti-regime slogans on Wednesday morning, including “Khamenei is a disgrace!” specifically voicing their hatred of the mullahs’ dictator.

Homeowners in Tehran’s 21st district were rallying outside the local municipal on Wednesday morning protesting the regime’s policies.

Landowners of the capital’s Punak district gathered outside the Presidential office on Wednesday demanding answers from authorities on why they’re refused construction permits on their lands.

Retirees and pensioners of the Social Security Organization held a protest rally in Ahvaz, southwest Iran, on Wednesday protesting low wages and pensions, insurance issues, and poor living conditions.

Storeowners in Arak, central Iran, were on strike on Wednesday protesting poor economic conditions and the country’s nosediving national currency.

Villagers living near the city of Kashan, central Iran, were holding a gathering on Wednesday protesting mining activities in their areas that are threatening their livelihood.

Retired teachers in the capital Tehran were rallying outside the regime’s Education Ministry protesting their poor economic conditions. A similar protest rally by retired teachers was held in the city of Shiraz where the participants chanted various slogans, including: “Release jailed teachers!”

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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