Iran Protests spread 165 cities; people demanding regime change, November 2019

The Mujahedin-e-Khalq (PMOI/MEK), the main opposition to the Iranian regime, is standing behind the people of Iran who are continuing to protest and hold anti-government demonstrations since last Friday. The MEK has widespread support both inside and outside Iran.

The Iranian regime announced last week that the prices of petrol would be increased drastically. This was what sparked the protests across the country off, but it is not what the protests are about. The people of Iran are making it very clear that they will not accept the mullahs as the leader of their country.

The regime knows that the people are determined for regime change and it knows that the MEK has a huge amount of members and supporters inside Iran, working with the people to bring change to the country. The regime also knows that the MEK has a huge following outside Iran and it is gaining more and more support among influential figures.

To confront this widespread discontent and to calm the people of Iran, the regime has said that any money made from the increase in the price of petrol will be allocated to the people. However, this is a very weak measure. The people of Iran are under no illusions about the reality of the situation. The regime has plundered the nation’s wealth for decades. It has let crises in the country spiral out of control, while at the same time spending billions on malign acts across the region including terrorist and extremist activities.

Shahin Gobadi, a spokesperson for the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said that the regime’s promise to allocate funds to the people is a “desperate and deceptive move”. The MEK has been instrumental in bringing light to the regime’s crimes including illicit nuclear activities and its terrorist operations around the world. The MEK knows the regime better than any other organization, including intelligence agencies.

The MEK network inside Iran has been instrumental in relaying the events as they happen. The regime imposed an almost total internet and cell phone blackout, no doubt an attempt to stop news spreading to the international community. And it was almost certainly an attempt to stop the MEK supporters and the MEK members from communicating and arranging further protests and anti-regime demonstrations.

The situation in Iran,  eight days later, remains tense and there are still clashes between demonstrators and the anti-riot and suppressive forces. Reports indicate that seven thousand people have been injured and more than two hundred fifty people have been killed.

The MEK is urging the international community to speak out about the Iranian regime’s crimes. The MEK points out that the people of Iran are being denied the right to peacefully protest and their freedom of speech is being cut off.

Now is the opportunity for the international community to pick aside. It can stand with the people of Iran who are asking for freedom, democracy, and human rights. Or it can stand on the side of the brutal regime that is the biggest threat to peace and security in the world.