Thursday, December 26th marked the 42nd consecutive day of protests since the beginning of the November Uprising. It was also the traditional fortieth day anniversary memorial for the more than 1500 protesters killed in the uprising.

Internet Blackout

The regime, fearing that the memorials would spark new protests, restricted Internet access in Tehran, Khuzestan, Alborz, Isfahan, Lorestan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Zanjan, and Bushehr Provinces, according to sources in the MEK Iran network. The restrictions, which began on Wednesday, have also affected some mobile networks.

The state-run Khabar-e Fori news agency reported on Wednesday that “mobile 4G networks have been shut down in 5 provinces since this morning. Apparently, these measures are being taken to confront the calls for protests on December 26.”

Netblocks, an organization that tracks Internet connectivity throughout the world, reported on Wednesday that connectivity had fallen to 5% of normal levels on specified networks in Iran after four separate cuts.

Memorials

Memorials were held throughout Iran on Wednesday, despite attacks by regime security forces.

In Karaj, mourners gathered at the Bibi Sakineh cemetery. Reports from the MEK Iran network indicated that security forces clashed with mourners at the cemetery.

A large group of mourners at the Behesht-e Sakineh cemetery in Karaj were attacked by security forces during their memorial service. The mourners were chanting, “No fear! We’re all together!”

“Our pain is your pain! People, join our ranks!”

“Viva Iran!”

“People did not die for us to compromise & praise the murderous leader!”

Several mourners were arrested, and the regime deployed helicopters to patrol the area in order to suppress further protests.

In Behbahan, Southwest Iran, hundreds of mourners attended a memorial for Mahmoud and Mehrdad Dashtinia, two brothers who were killed by security forces during the November Uprising.

In Shahriar, Tehran, mourners gathered at the

Amir-al-Momenin mosque for the memorial of

Alireza Nowrouzi, who was killed during the November Uprising. Regime security forces surrounded the memorial ceremony, going so far as to prevent shops close to the mosque from opening.

Memorials Outside of Iran

On Wednesday, MEK Iran supporters in Paris held a memorial for the protesters who were killed by the regime during the November Uprising.

In Albania, a memorial was held at Ashraf-3, the MEK’s headquarters, for the martyrs of the November Uprising. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), gave the keynote address at the ceremony.

“These martyrs are still alive because they are eternal. They are the flowers of a rebellious generation. They burst into life out of the sacred will and determination of an arisen nation. They are the harbingers of freedom in Iran,” she said. You are the mothers and fathers of heroes who shook the clerical regime to its foundations, so much so that the regime has no escape from it.”

Mrs. Rajavi has once again called on the United Nations to send an international fact-finding mission to the Iranian regime’s prisons to determine the status of the 12,000 people arrested during the protests.