The people of Iran have been suffering from economic hardship for many years now. With every year that passes, the people of Iran have become poorer and poorer and more and more people are falling into the absolute poverty category.

The Budget for 2020 announced by the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has been denounced as an illusion by many in Iran, including even the state-run media. The illusion is based on the pretense that Iran will be able to sell far more barrels of oil than it realistically can.

February marks the 41st anniversary of the 1979 Revolution and subsequent rise to power of the mullahs’ regime in Iran. The clerical regime stages rallies and events every year in a transparent attempt to boost morale and gloss over the country’s growing international isolation.

Protests continue across Iran as the level of discontent continues to rise. Over the weekend, taxi drivers held protests in front of the head offices of the Pakrou Sabz Qeshm company in the country’s capital. They highlighted the high levels of government corruption and were heard chanting “Death to corrupt officials”.

The Iranian regime should have made a decision with regard to its willingness to adopt the legislation regarding the CFT (Combating the Financing of Terrorism). The one-year deadline that it had expired on 21^st January.

Iran’s new Budget (fiscal year beginning March 21, 2020), called in short, the 99 budget, has turned to a silent crisis in the country. A brief look at the regime’s own newspapers explains why.

Iranians took to the streets on Friday to protest gasoline prices after the cost of gas tripled. Protests began to escalate on Friday afternoon, and by Friday evening they had spread to more cities.

The people of Iran, 80 percent of whom live below the poverty line, are furious about the latest example of the plundering of the nation’s resources by the clerical regime. While many workers have had to resort to rummaging through public garbage cans to find food or selling their own organs to provide for their families, the regime and their cronies live in luxury using the wealth that belongs to the Iranian people.

Protests on Friday Afternoon

Iranians staged protests in a number of Iranian cities, with the help of the MEK’s Resistance Units. On Friday afternoon the protests grew in various cities in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.

Tehran, #Iran
Locals are blocking the Imam Ali Highway, protesting a recent gasoline price hike.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/eW9aYKWnKn

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 16, 2019

In the cities of Ahvaz, Khorramshahr, Andimeshk, Dezful, Behbahan, and Mahshahr, protesters chanted anti-regime slogans and set tires on fire to block streets and highways.

Protests on Friday Evening

By Friday evening, the protests had gained momentum as more people joined the demonstrations taking place and additional protests began.

Protests in Ahvaz and other cities in Khuzestan took a dramatic turn when the State Security Force attacked the protesters, breaking the windshields of their vehicles. Ahvazi youth pushed back against the attack and sat down on the street, forcing them to retreat. The young people blocked the Mullah Thani Expressway, chanting, “Let go of Syria, think of us!” and “Have no fear, we are all together!”

Iranian youth have been a major force in the Iranian Resistance, and they have been instrumental in joining the Mujahedin-d Khalq (PMOI/MEK) in fighting against the mullahs’ tyranny.

The regime placed the State Security Force, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, the Judiciary and other suppressive forces in various cities on high alert five days ago in anticipation of massive protests. The country has been on the verge of widespread revolt since the 2017/2018 uprising, and the regime’s answer to the unrest has been to increase its suppression.

In Mashhad, protesters rallied at the Vakil-Abad Expressway, switching off their cars and blocking the highway. The protesters chanted, “Dictator shame on you, let go of the country!” Rouhani shame on you, let go of the country!” “Death to Rouhani!” and “Our silence betrays Iran!” They also carried signs which read, “We will never again buy gasoline, one hand does make much noise.”

Birjand, northeast #Iran
"Proud people of Birjand, support, support!"
People are protesting today's gasoline price hikes & calling on locals to rise up against the mullahs' regime.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/sDtjfUDyYe

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 15, 2019

In the city of Hashtgerd in Karaj, just west of Tehran, people protested the rise in gas prices by driving their cars in the streets. People held similar protests in Shiraz, Karaj, and Sirjan.

Maryam Rajavi’s Response

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), saluted the brave protesters in Mashhad, Shiraz, Karaj, Sirjan, Ahvaz, and other Iranian cities for rising up against the corrupt and criminal regime. She encouraged the youth of Iran to join the protesters in their fight.

Iranians took to the streets on Friday to protest gasoline prices after the cost of gas tripled. Protests began to escalate on Friday afternoon, and by Friday evening they had spread to more cities.

The people of Iran, 80 percent of whom live below the poverty line, are furious about the latest example of the plundering of the nation’s resources by the clerical regime. While many workers have had to resort to rummaging through public garbage cans to find food or selling their own organs to provide for their families, the regime and their cronies live in luxury using the wealth that belongs to the Iranian people.

Protests on Friday Afternoon

Iranians staged protests in a number of Iranian cities, with the help of the MEK’s Resistance Units. On Friday afternoon the protests grew in various cities in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.

In the cities of Ahvaz, Khorramshahr, Andimeshk, Dezful, Behbahan, and Mahshahr, protesters chanted anti-regime slogans and set tires on fire to block streets and highways.

Protests on Friday Evening

By Friday evening, the protests had gained momentum as more people joined the demonstrations taking place and additional protests began.

If Iran’s “anti-human regime” remains in power, high prices and unemployment will only intensify, Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi says, hailing recent demonstrations protesting the government’s decision to ration and hike the price of petrol.https://t.co/r7jIAdf2mt

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) November 16, 2019

Protests in Ahvaz and other cities in Khuzestan took a dramatic turn when the State Security Force attacked the protesters, breaking the windshields of their vehicles. Ahvazi youth pushed back against the attack and sat down on the street, forcing them to retreat. The young people blocked the Mullah Thani Expressway, chanting, “Let go of Syria, think of us!” and “Have no fear, we are all together!”

Iranian youth have been a major force in the Iranian Resistance, and they have been instrumental in joining the MEK in fighting against the mullahs’ tyranny.

The regime placed the State Security Force, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, the Judiciary and other suppressive forces in various cities on high alert five days ago in anticipation of massive protests. The country has been on the verge of widespread revolt since the 2017/2018 uprising, and the regime’s answer to the unrest has been to increase its suppression.

In Mashhad, protesters rallied at the Vakil-Abad Expressway, switching off their cars and blocking the highway. The protesters chanted, “Dictator shame on you, let go of the country!” Rouhani shame on you, let go of the country!” “Death to Rouhani!” and “Our silence betrays Iran!” They also carried signs which read, “We will never again buy gasoline, one hand does make much noise.”

In the city of Hashtgerd in Karaj, just west of Tehran, people protested the rise in gas prices by driving their cars in the streets. People held similar protests in Shiraz, Karaj, and Sirjan.

My heartfelt condolences to the families of the martyrs of the uprisings in #Sirjan and #Behbahan. #IranProtests #Iran pic.twitter.com/bz20g5bjtt

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) November 16, 2019

Maryam Rajavi’s Response

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), saluted the brave protesters in Mashhad, Shiraz, Karaj, Sirjan, Ahvaz, and other Iranian cities for rising up against the corrupt and criminal regime. She encouraged the youth of Iran to join the protesters in their fight.

 

 

A large group of retirees gathered outside the regime’s Budget and Planning Organization and the Parliament (Majlis) on Sunday in order to protest their appalling living conditions and the failure of their pensions to meet their basic needs. Retirees from many other provinces across the country traveled to join the protests.

The clerical regime tried to stop the protests from taking place and prevent other people from joining the gatherings by blocking the streets leading to the regime’s parliament in order to deny access to the retirees and their supporters. They also stationed hundreds of suppressive forces, over 50 agents riding motorcycles, and dozens of plainclothes agents on location in advance of the gathering to harass, intimidate, and arrest people for protesting.

#IranProtests: Gathering by Retirees in #Tehran, Violent Assault by Suppressive Forces https://t.co/7xlyfQm1Zn#FreeIran #NoImpunity4Mullahs

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) November 10, 2019

Despite the mullahs’ suppressive measures, the crowd of retirees, which included many women held their gathering outside Parliament and chanted:

• “Imprisoned teachers must be freed”
• “We are furious over so much injustice”
• “We will not rest until we get what is our right”
• “Protest gathering is our inalienable right”

Outside the Planning and Budget Organization, dozens of protesters gathered to have the voices heard, but the suppressive forces of the regime cracked down violently and did not even allow the retirees to speak with one another.

Many protesters were arrested by the regime and had their phones confiscated, even though their only crime was holding a peaceful protest against the Iranian Regime. The mullahs were terrified that the people might release videos or pictures on social media that would expose the regime and go viral so that all the world could see the regime’s abuses.

The Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran wrote: “The Iranian Resistance hails the protesters and urges the residents of Tehran, especially the young people, to support the retirees. It also calls on the United Nations Human Rights Council and the High Commissioner for Human Rights as well as other human rights organizations to take urgent action to secure the release of those detained.”

July 16 – Tehran, #Iran
Retirees rallying outside the regime's Labor Ministry demanding answers to the requests they have been stating for a long period.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/ddRH9NwxzG

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) July 16, 2019

The Iranian people have been rising up to protest the regime for corruption, humans rights abuses, warmongering, terrorism, and much more besides for nearly two years and the mullahs are terrified that the people will overthrow them because then the regime’s leaders will  be held accountable for their many crimes against the people of Iran, including the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners. Most of the victims were the members or sympathizers of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK).

In a conference at the French National Assembly on 29 October, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), stressed that in absence of a firm policy, the regime gets further emboldened and tensions and crises aggravate.

Bellow is the second part of Mrs. Rajavi’s speech at the conference:

“• The Iranian regime is never going to change its behavior because it is too weak and isolated; any change in behavior would lead to regime change.

• The regime cannot abandon warmongering or its nuclear and missile projects in return for economic and political concessions. This is why the regime refused the chance to do so despite being offered the best possible opportunity.

• Absent a firm policy, the regime gets further emboldened and tensions and crises aggravate.

   

#MaryamRajavi : #France must take the initiative to open the path to #democracy in #Iranhttps://t.co/NclubJe94c#MEK #NoImpunity4Mullahs @USAdarFarsi pic.twitter.com/4DRijE0tQs

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) October 30, 2019

She then pointed to the solution saying: The solution is to support the people of Iran who call for the regime’s overthrow.

Mrs. Rajavi discussed the growing recent protests in Iran and said:

” Today, the people of Iran are protesting and holding strikes in factories, in the streets, in Isfahan, Lordegan, Arak and other cities, but they are suppressed. In their view, the only solution to their misery is the overthrow of the regime.

In their protests, they have time and again addressed the regime’s leaders, telling them to let go of Syria, but the mullahs keep spending the lion’s share of the nation’s revenues on war and terrorism in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen. The country’s economy is paralyzed. The economic growth rate has shrunk by 9.5 percent, and the inflation rate is between 40 and 50 percent. In a nutshell, the mullahs’ regime is engulfed in one of the most critical periods of its rule.

The religious dictatorship ruling Iran does not represent the Iranian people nor their rich history and culture. “

 

Enjoying a vast popular support, the defiant youth, supporters of the #MEK, torched the symbols of the regime’s leadership, across #Iran https://t.co/b4A1Pv1Mnf#FreeIran @USAdarFarsi pic.twitter.com/oIXnMGjVoP

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) October 28, 2019

Highlighting the expectation from France she said:

“As the leading country in Europe, France must take the initiative to open the path to democracy in Iran, and to support human rights, the Iranian people and the Resistance. This is the only way we can restore peace in the Middle East and bring about stability and democracy.”

In conclusion, Mrs. Rajavi said:

” There is a democratic alternative capable of establishing a democratic and pluralist republic based on the separation of religion and state, gender equality, the autonomy of ethnic groups, and a non-nuclear Iran.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran is capable of replacing this regime and peacefully transferring power to elected representatives of the people of Iran.

Our people, resistance and resistance units are prepared to achieve this, and we hope that Europe and France stand with the Iranian people and their legitimate demands and aspirations.”

An exhibition in this regard was on display all day close to the National Assembly.