One of the main concerns for the Iranian regime over the past few years has been the possibility of further nationwide uprisings. As time goes on, the number of major anti-government protests and rallies increases.

On March 20^th, sources of Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK Iran) reported that the coronavirus epidemic is spreading across the country and regime officials are refusing to address the crisis to save the Iranian people. The head of the emergency teams in the Northern Province of Gilan says there is no room for more patients.

Last Friday, the Supreme Leader of the Iranian regime, Ali Khamenei, held his first Friday prayer sermon in eight years. It was a highly anticipated event that was even reported about in international news.

Regime authorities are once again stressing the importance of unity between opposing factions as the clerical regime teeters dangerously close to being overthrown. Regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani, and officials of all levels have emphasized that regime leaders must put aside their differences, at least publicly, in order to weather the “current dangers” facing the clerical dictatorship.

 

The “current dangers” are of course the regime’s growing fear of the people’s uprisings particularly with the role the MEK, has been playing in mobilizing the, which pose a threat to the mullahs’ continued claim to power. Officials call for unity time and time again, but they have repeatedly failed to address the fundamental problem facing Iran: the Iranian people are unified against the mullahs, and no amount of solidarity amongst officials can change their desire for regime change.

Increasing Rifts

Khamenei appoints Friday prayer Imams to act as his mouthpieces to the public. He recently met with Friday prayer Imams to discuss messaging in Friday prayers and voiced his concern about criticizing officials and regime institutions in Friday prayer sermons.

#Women’s remarkably active role in 5th day of Kazeroun protests
✌️✌️✌️✌️#FreeIran #RegimeChangehttps://t.co/7WcaLgBEEf pic.twitter.com/3yd4IsVgx1

— mahsti25 (@Metanat8) April 21, 2018

“We shouldn’t raise an issue immediately in Friday prayers when we see it in governmental, judicial, or other institutions,” he said, emphasizing that this “would increase the rifts and differences and agitate the population.”

 

Massih Mohajeri, a mullah close to Rouhani’s faction and the editor-in-chief of the Islamic Republic newspaper, claimed that Friday prayer Imams are doing the very thing Khamenei warned against. While admitting the hatred and illegitimacy even within the ranks of the regime supporters, he blamed the problem on poorly-qualified Imams in an article in the newspaper he edits.

“The reason why participants of Friday prayers are decreasing over the past recent years is that there has been negligence in the necessary qualities for choosing Friday prayer imams,” he explained.

“There are Friday prayer imams who lack the necessary qualities and don’t have the ability to attract the people and unite them,” he continued. “In recent decades, a large amount of money and energy have been spent on building prayer sites in different cities. However, there hasn’t been much spent to significantly improve the quality of Friday prayer imams. The result is that we have praying sites but no worshippers and the number of individuals who participate in Friday prayers all over the country is a fraction of the population that actually prays. More importantly, the number of young people present is very small. This means that the Friday prayer imams lack connection to the current generation,” he added.

IRAN Unpaid Health Center Employees Clash with police in Ahwaz
Employees of health centers from #Iran's Khuzestan Province protesting over low wages clashed with the regime's suppressive state security forces on Sunday, July 21.
#Iran#FreeIran
#IranRegimeChange #protests pic.twitter.com/WLlX4LM0h3

— صدای ایرانی (@sadaeyiran5) July 22, 2019

No Difference between Factions

In a July 13th interview, Mohebbian, a conservative Iranian regime strategist, admitted what the MEK has said for years: “Due to the disappointment about the management of [Iranian] political movements, the population has concluded that one political movement is like the other and there is no difference,” Mohebbian said.

Officials in #Iran cut off electricity to quake-hit locals of a town where people are living in tents & trailers after nearly two years.#IranProtestshttps://t.co/tIiPPmr42O

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) July 22, 2019

“The internal and external difficulties of the conservative movement is serious as is that of the moderates. The most important problem of conservatives is their weakness in political marketing for their opinions among the population. Eventually, the people will move beyond both [factions],” he added. A very clear admission of the fear the entire corrupt and repressive regime has from the people’s uprising.

Staff writer

 

On Thursday, May 2, the Wall Street Journal published claims made from US officials that President Donald Trump is considering pushing for more rigid enforcement of his sanctions against the Iranian regime. The Trump administration reintroduced economic sanctions against the Iranian regime last year in an attempt to restrict its access to US dollars and reduce its ability to finance terrorist groups across the globe.

The officials cited petrochemical sales to Singapore and the sale of consumer goods to Afghanistan as two revenue sources Trump is particularly interested in restricting.

Spending Revenues on Terror

Under the current Iranian dictatorship, the regime leadership has expanded the Iranian petrochemical industry. It has brought most of the Iranian market under the control of regime-affiliated groups, including the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) which was recently added to the US terror blacklist.

#Iran's petrochemical industry is under the full control of Iran’s Supreme Leader,@khamenei_ir & the Revolutionary Guards Corps #IRGC, allowing them to fund terrorist activities abroad.https://t.co/VlFkuhz79c@USAdarFarsi @FDD pic.twitter.com/S4EdrwvzF2

— Iran News Wire (@IranNW) May 3, 2019

This has allowed the IRGC and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) to use these revenues to finance terror and militia groups across the Middle East and beyond. The IRGC’s proxy forces have been found operating in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and Afghanistan.

Former MOIS chief, Ali Fallahian, described on Iranian state TV how the mullahs had diversified the Iranian economy to increase its spending on warmongering and terrorism.

“Many people, including Ali Khamenei, the current supreme leader were insisting that the country should not be totally dependent on oil. So we decided to build the petrochemical industry in Iran. We had $16 billion income from exporting oil at that time. We planned on the export of petrochemical goods and another $16 billion income came from this. Of course, this was back then, now it is much more,” he said.

The People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) recently wrote that according to some experts, Ali Khamenei controls over 90% of the petrochemical industry in Iran. The companies sell petrochemical products to foreign companies in exchange for foreign currencies. They then transfer these currencies through regime-affiliated exchange companies to their intended recipients.

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These companies can transfer vast sums of cash. Some estimates put these transactions in excess of US$10 billion. These funds, once in the IRGC’s possession, are used to repress the Iranian population within Iran, or funneled to militias and terror groups outside the country.

The US and its European allies have a responsibility to disrupt and prevent the flow of funds from the Iranian regime to its terrorist affiliates abroad. The enforcement of rigid sanctions is one way of doing so. These sanctions are necessary to enhance global stability, reduce the export of terrorism and end the Iranian regime’s malign and nefarious activities across the Middle East and beyond.

Staff writer

 

 

Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejected the possibility of using the country’s development fund to finance flood recovery. He said that funds may be withdrawn only after all other sources have been exhausted. Khamenei has earmarked the development fund for financing the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and military conflict in the region.

The deadly sixteen-day floods are estimated to have caused over $2.2 billion in damages in 25 out of 31 Iranian provinces. Hundreds are believed to have died, thousands lost their homes, and hundreds of thousands of people were affected by the destruction caused by the floods.

MEK-Iran: Floodwaters Spread through Khuzestan while Tens of Thousands of Iranians Still Wait for Disaster Aid

Regime President Hassan Rouhani inquired about using the development fund in a letter to Khamenei because of the regime’s growing alarm at the price of the disaster. The Supreme Leader replied, “You are aware that withdrawing from the development fund is only permitted when all other channels of raising fund are exhausted.”

The “other channels” referred to are components of the nation’s budget, including construction, bank reserves, and insurance. Those resources are intended to be used on services that are already sorely lacking. Iran is in the midst of an economic crisis, and robbing the budget would exacerbate a situation that was already unsustainable before the floods. It’s also uncertain that the budget could withstand a $2.2 billion hit, even if the regime was willing to bring the country to the brink of economic destruction.

Majlis Members Express Concern

The economic damage caused by the floods has caused some members of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) to express concern about the government’s ability to cover the costs of recovery without drawing from the development fund. On Sunday, one member of the Majlis Development Committee was quoted as saying, “The volume of the destruction from the floods is enormous and the government alone is incapable of covering it. So, it is necessary to withdraw from the development funds with the supreme leader’s signature.”

Khamenei Deflects Blame

Khamenei still refuses to consider drawing from the development fund until the country is completely bankrupt, ignoring his own government and the growing anger from the Iranian people, who have taken to the streets in flood-stricken areas to protest the regime’s failure to provide assistance to those whose lives and homes have been destroyed in the disaster.

April 12 – Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, SW #Iran
The protests of the Eyn-e Do (Sayed-Karim) west of Ahwaz city protesting not receiving any aid from authorities and also #IRGC directing floodwaters into the people houses and destructions of them.#IranFloods@USAdarFarsi pic.twitter.com/dH6oU69J9g

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) April 12, 2019

In a recent meeting with some of his allies, Khamenei feigned sympathy for the flood victims, but he also took the opportunity to warn those in his faction about the threat that the aftermath of the deadly disaster poses to the regime. He made sure reference “enemies” in order to deflect blame from his government’s own actions, a common strategy employed by the regime in times of crisis.

In an April 15th report broadcast on the state-run IRIB news agency, Khamenei said, “We should be aware and walk carefully, like someone who is crossing a narrow road with deep cliffs around it. You must look at each step you take. You must know that the ‘enemies’ [the MEK and the U.S.] are increasingly plotting against us.”

Staff writer

 

On Thursday, April 11th, Sudanese dictator and war criminal Omar al-Bashir was ousted from power and arrested in what Iranian regime state media are calling a military coup. Bashir’s arrest comes after months of protests in Sudan calling for his removal.

 

Sudanese Defense Minister Awad Ibn Ouf announced that the army will remain in power for two years. He also closed Sudan’s borders and airspace and called for an end to the protests. Security officials in Sudan reported that all political prisoners have been freed.

 

Iranian regime officials have so far remained silent on the protests in Sudan and the ouster of  their former ally, but the situation is cause for concern in Tehran.

The Regime’s History with Sudan

The Iranian regime’s support for Sudan dates back to at least the 1990s, when the two countries were believed to be supporting each other’s military programs. The Iranian regime provided weapons to Sudan and sent in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to support their military. In exchange, Sudan provided naval facilities to the Iranian regime.

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Regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei considered Bashir to be a strong ally and showed support for him, which Bashir reciprocated. Bashir visited Iran a number of times and was treated as an honored guest.

 

In 2008, Bashir was convicted of crimes against humanity in an international tribunal. Iranian regime Majlis (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani responded to the news by traveling to Sudan personally to tell Bashir that “the Islamic Republic’s wholeheartedly supported” him.” The regime’s Foreign Minister at the time, Manouchehr Mottaki, also expressed support for Bashir and the ruling regime in Sudan.

 

Sudan then fought a bloody civil war with South Sudan, which ended in 2011. South Sudan won its independence from Bashir and his dictatorship, leaving Sudan without the financial benefit of South Sudan’s oil wells.

The Iranian regime was facing its own financial struggles. The country was facing economic sanctions and spending enormous sums of money to support Bashar al-Assad in the war in Syria. Iran could not give money to two dictators at once.

Bashir’s loyalty to the Iranian regime ended at approximately the same time that his regime’s money ran out. Once he realized that the Iranian regime could not help Sudan, Bashir joined forces with Saudi Arabia, Iran’s biggest regional enemy. In 2015, Sudan expelled all Iranian entities from the country and joined the Saudi campaign in Yemen against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

One journalist wrote that Bashir flipped his loyalty from Iran to Saudi Arabia because his “hopes of receiving petrodollars” were dashed. In any case, the alliance between these dictatorships did not end well. The Iranian regime has made a habit of befriending dictators, which leads to further destabilization of the entire region. This is only the latest example.

 

The end of Bashir’s dictatorship means that change is possible. Dictators can be overthrown. Protests work. Incompetent rulers cannot last forever if people are willing to stand up and make their voices be heard.

Staff writer

 

Regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in his recent speech published in his website, on the occasion of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, in which he tried to portray the spectacular failures of the past year in a positive light and to deflect blame for the growing economic and political crises within the country on rival factions within his own government and unnamed “enemies.”

Khamenei cannot deny his deep concerns for the new year which he has already warned deeply about.#Iranhttps://t.co/j1FPjDHQpg

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 22, 2019

Despite his justifications and blame-passing, though, Khamenei was unable to deny that the past twelve months have been difficult for both the Iranian people and the regime. Once again, the Supreme Leader attempted to give a message of hope and inadvertently reaffirmed that the regime is close to collapse.

Growing Resistance

Khamenei mentioned the growing protest movement in the country, led by the MEK and the Iranian Resistance, when he said, “We surpassed a very adventurous year. Our enemies had plans for the Iranian people.” Khamenei often refers to the MEK as “the enemy” and has expressed his fear that the organization could overthrow the regime on a number of occasions.

 

Khamenei falsely claimed to have the support of the people, saying, “The people… showed a strong response in the political and economic perspectives.” He also said that the regime was popular with the people, noting that the regime had celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution at a rally on February 11th. He failed to point out that the rally was widely boycotted by the Iranian people.

Economic Crisis

The regime Supreme Leader referred to the economic crisis that has left 80% of the Iranian people living below the poverty line as an “issue.”  He said, “Economically, we have many issues. The lowering value of the national currency is an important matter. So is the people’s purchasing power. The problems facing our factories, unemployment, and in some cases, some of our factories closing down. These are issues,”

Khamenei's inner circle are warning about revolts across #Iran in the new Iranian calendar year.#IranProtestshttps://t.co/2Kq8TU7MQq

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 22, 2019

Khamenei, who has allowed Iran to sink further into economic crisis, said that he had a simple solution to all of the country’s problems. “I have studied these issues and listened to the experts. The key to all these issues is developing our national production.”

He elaborated on his plan, which is an extension of the same failed plan he tried last year. “We named last year, 1397, as the year of Supporting Iranian Products,’” he said. “I can’t say this motto was completely implemented. However, I can say that this slogan was acknowledged at a wide scale.” According to Khamenei, 1398 will be the year of “Production Growth.”

“If production is launched as it should, it can solve both our poor living standards and provide what we are in need of from foreigners, including countries that are our enemies. It can also resolve our unemployment and national currency issues to a significant extent,” he added.

Khamenei’s words illustrate the current state of the regime. The only piece of good news the Supreme Leader could share was that the regime had made it through a year of protests and economic upheaval without collapsing. Khamenei’s half-baked plan for economic recovery was a rehash of last year’s half-baked plan, which failed so completely that workers across the country have been forced to strike after working for months without wages. It is a New Day in Iran, and the mullahs are stuck in the past.

Staff writer