The Anniversary of Iran’s 2019 Protests Shows Growing Presence of the MEK Resistance Movement

This time last year a spark of hope arose in Iran when the people oppressed by their poverty stood up to protest about the unprecedented rise in petrol. This is one in a succession of similar uprisings which began in late 2017 and spread into 2018. Most of the protests were motivated by economic matters affecting Iranians. Now they are emphasizing more getting rid of the regime as slogans can be heard at the protests such as “death to the dictator.”

For many years, the people of Iran have despised the mullahs that rule their country. They have watched the regime suppress their rights and plunder their nation’s wealth. https://t.co/gf85AU09Qb #Iran #MEK #IRGCTerrorWithoutBorders #Iranian #coronavirus @USAdarFarsi pic.twitter.com/kgVCkzR3uX

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) June 3, 2020

The protest in January 2018 spread to 150 cities in all 31 of Iran’s provinces. By November 2019, protests broke out in 191 cities.  Both uprisings were organized by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran), who played a key role. The regime started to become frightened when they found out that the (PMOI / MEK Iran) was behind all the disruptions so they took all the measures possible to intimidate them in the hope the uprisings would stop. In the first protest, many protesters were killed but this didn’t stop further protests from taking place.

The regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei acknowledged MEK’s role in the protests

In a speech, Khamenei told the public that the (PMOI / MEK Iran)is the regime’s main opposition. This was a great boost for the (PMOI / MEK Iran) as despite the mass executions in 1988 of many (PMOI / MEK Iran) members and supporters the resistance group was now being rewarded for all the work it had done since that time as they had not been deterred by the treatment given to all members of the opposition group. Even Khamenei really believed that all opposition groups were destroyed back in 1988.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei spoke to the young men about the PMOI #MEK #Iran and his concerns about the opposition group. He warned that the regime needs to be “careful about the enemy recruiting members of our young society”.https://t.co/Ez238fMSxZ#Iranian @USAdarFarsi pic.twitter.com/gUpnkHwzAZ

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) May 20, 2020

November 2019 protest marred by bloodshed

The regime was ready to kill at the November 2019 protest marches as it gave orders to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) to shoot to kill the protesters. In a report compiled by the (PMOI / MEK Iran) which was presented to the international community on December 15, 1,500 people lost their lives by shooting throughout the country. Some were very young. Reuters confirmed in a special report on December 23, 2019, about the deadly crackdown on November nationwide protests in Iran the death toll of 1500 that was announced by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran) on December 15, 2019.

Finally, in September, Amnesty International published a report called “Trampled Humanity” which contained many details about the treatment of detainees who had been incarcerated for politically motivated crimes.

Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK Iran/PMOI) said yesterday that there have been at least 1500 killed in #IranProtests in #Iran which began on 15 November 2019. #MEK Iran also released the names of 504 slain protesters.https://t.co/m9jsCDZTWC@USAdarFarsi #StopIranBloodshed pic.twitter.com/GwEFjWgYB6

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) December 16, 2019

It wasn’t just at protest marches where citizens were arrested, tortured, and often executed but in both September and October, the State Security Forces publicly attacked citizens and shoved them into the backs of pick-up trucks so they could parade them through the streets while assaulting them along the way. The regime called them “thugs” which was the term they used for those who attended protest marches.

IRGC Brigadier General, Seyed Majid Mirahmadi, said that it is the responsibility of “all armed forces” to stop the regime’s organized opponents from “depriving comfort” of Khamenei and his regime.

Khamenei also urged the Basij forces to repress the (PMOI / MEK Iran)’s boosted influence on university campuses as this would then put student activism at the forefront of the protest movement. Last January university campuses became the focal point of new anti-regime protests which spread to several provinces throughout the country. One of the motives was protesting that Tehran had tried to cover up an IRGC missile strike that led to the deaths of 176 people flying on a commercial airliner.

#Iran State-Media Reflect Mullahs’ Fear of #MEK’s Role in Increasing International Pressure on Regime: The recent activation of the United Nations sanctions snapback mechanism has terrified the #Iranian regime.#MaryamRajavi pic.twitter.com/JTfKrJ7sXK

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) September 29, 2020

Afkar News, one of the regime’s many media outlets, referred to those who had been detained at the November uprising as being “in some shape or form tied to” the (PMOI / MEK Iran).

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran,  said earlier:

“The world community’s silence and inaction have emboldened the religious fascism ruling Iran to continue and intensify its anti-human crimes against the Iranian people. The time has come to end impunity for those responsible for these atrocities. The regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, its president Hassan Rouhani, and other leaders, who have been perpetrating crimes against humanity, must face justice. I urge the United Nations to form a fact-finding mission to investigate this major crime and visit the prisons and the prisoners in Iran.”

Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook: “The @Reuters report on the massacre ordered by @khamenei_ir underscores the urgency for the international community to punish the perpetrators and isolate the regime for the murder of 1,500 Iranian citizens.” https://t.co/TpUncLjDcv

— Department of State (@StateDept) December 23, 2019

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and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTube