On February 27, retirees and pensioners in dozens of Iranian cities took to the streets to renew their demands and hold the government and Majlis accountable for failing to provide their most basic requirements. Despite the regime’s efforts to create an environment of fear and intimidation, their rallies have risen in intensity and organization, and have become a mainstay of Iranian news.

The rising protest movements demonstrate that regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s effort to reinforce his regime has failed. Last year, Khamenei prepared the stage for Ebrahim Raisi, the regime’s then-judiciary chief, to become the regime’s next president. Raisi has received the nickname “butcher” in Iran for his role in the 1988 execution of 30,000 political prisoners. Raisi placed together a cabinet of terrorists, criminals, and thieves who are staunch supporters of Khamenei.

Prior to it, Khamenei had assured that the Majlis (parliament) was packed with his supporters, with former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Bagher Gahlibaf appointed as Speaker of the Majlis. These steps were intended to realize Khamenei’s vision of a “Hezbollahi government,” a state dedicated to preserving the mullahs’ control at all costs.

The fundamental reason for the change, which regime officials refer to as “major surgery,” was rising opposition in Iran’s society. The regime had barely escaped numerous rounds of state-wide demonstrations, and another uprising lurked on the horizon. At the same time, MEK Resistance Units in Iran were becoming a more powerful force for change.

 

 

Khamenei wanted to put an end to any infighting and make sure that cold-blooded criminals like Raisi, Ghalibaf, and Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, who took Raisi’s position as judiciary leader, were in charge of the executive, judiciary, and legislative arms of the government. The new line-up is said to be ideal for dealing with Khamenei’s principal adversaries and cause of worry, the Iranian people and their resistance movement.

In recent months, the regime has increased the number of executions, arrests, and persecutions of protestors and dissidents in order to further instill fear. However, less than a year after Raisi’s ascension to power, Khamenei’s position is in jeopardy. Protests have not only continued, but have grown in volume, strength, and organization.

Teachers’, farmers’, and pensioner protests are just a few examples of how the Iranian people have reacted to the regime’s tactics. While many of these demonstrations began as economic demands, they have since grown into political movements that criticize the regime’s corruption and brutality, and at times advocate for the mullahs’ overthrow.

 

 

On Sunday, the retirees demanded the release of political prisoners and activists who had been arrested. Prior to that, protesting teachers warned the dictatorship that the “teachers’ movement is preparing for an uprising,” after months of raising their voices for their most fundamental rights. Before that, farmers in Isfahan replied with yells of “Death to Khamenei” as the regime’s security forces violently suppressed weeks-long protest gatherings.

Simultaneously, the Resistance Units have increased their actions in recent weeks, broadcasting anti-government chants in public areas and setting fire to posters and sculptures of regime figures and icons.

All of these signs point to the evident fact that Iranian society is prepared for regime change. And Khamenei, who is sitting on a ticking time bomb, is running out of options for delaying his regime’s doom.

 

For years now Iran’s economy has been in a severe recess due to the regime’s destructive policies
Authorities refuse to adjust pensions based on growing inflation & depreciating value of the rial
On Feb 27 protesters were chanting, “Enough with empty promises. Our tables are empty!”

 

 

 

MEK Iran (follow us on Twitter and Facebook), Maryam Rajavi’s on her site, Twitter & Facebook, NCRI  (Twitter & Facebook) and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTub