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.

Iranian’s protest gatherings and the activities of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK) push mullahs into a deadly cliff.  The Iranian Regime is desperate to project strength in the face of the US’s “maximum pressure” campaign and rising international isolation, but the reality is that the mullahs have never been as vulnerable as they are now, according to Dr. Ali Safavi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

In a piece for Issues & Insights on October 24, Safavi wrote: “An important indicator of its sustained troubles is the economy. Severely mismanaged for decades and devastated by endemic corruption, the economy is in complete shambles. In just a few short months since the full adoption of maximum pressure, the economic situation has deteriorated even more drastically. Indeed, the International Monetary Fund said that Iran’s economy will shrink by 9.5 percent this year, more than what was projected previously. So, the continuation of this policy will certainly produce enormous challenges to the regime’s survival.”

After four decades of the ruling, unemployment, corruption, embezzlement and many other social disasters have been the souvenirs of the #mullahs for the #Iranian people. https://t.co/WN0m7sObnp#WeSupportMEK #MEK #FreeIran @USAdarFarsi pic.twitter.com/KDQv1zBrG3

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) October 14, 2019

He cited that Iranian condensate, an ultra-light and expensive oil, was a prime example of how the US campaign had affected Iranian exports. In 2017, the regime exported over 17 million tons of condensate for $7 billion. This dropped by 45% in 2018 and to near zero in 2019, according to a spokesman for the Iranian Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Association.

He then moved onto the topic of inflation, saying that the regime’s own statistics put the rate of inflation in the period September 2018 and September 2019 as 42.7%, with official statistics showing that the rate of inflation for imported products is close to 150%. This means that the Iranian people’s purchasing power has declined dramatically in just a few short months.

The truth is that the Iranian economy is heading for collapse because unaccountable and corrupt institutions, such as the Office of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), control the majority of economic activity. The decline in Iranian economic activity is increasing by the day because of corruption, embezzlement, inflation, structural flaws, and declining domestic production.

Most state revenues and expenses are stolen by Khamenei and the IRGC to line their own pockets or conduct warfare in the Middle East. This devastation has caused the national currency to drop by 50% in under a year, while the central bank prints more money to address short term demands, which increases inflation. Meanwhile, domestic production has plummeted, which increases unemployment.

Iranian people and the MEK, have a long history of resistance against the religious dictatorship in Iran. In a new round, during the past two years, the Iranian people have been taken to streets to demand regime change. MEK’s resistance units have accelerated their activities in recent months. The economic situation could send the Iranian regime over the edge, something that the regime fears. Mullahs are right to fear it because it will happen sooner or later.

Mullahs in #Iran hopelessly try to prevent a popular uprising and thwart the expansion of resistance units by using internal suppression and external sponsorship of #terrorism https://t.co/sHwxd0FbHk#MEK @USAdarFarsi pic.twitter.com/nHTsy5xLNu

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) October 17, 2019

One of the most disputed issues in Iran is passing the bill related to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in the Iranian regime’s parliament.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), based in Paris, is a global standard-setting body for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT), to protect the international financial system from money laundering and financing of terrorism (ML/FT) risks.

Postponing its ultimatum to the Iranian regime on last Friday, FATF asked the Iranian regime to fully pass the bill on money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. Simultaneously, this international body on June 2019 in a public statement, decided to call upon its members and urge all jurisdictions to introduce enhanced relevant reporting mechanisms or systematic reporting of financial transactions; and require increased external audit requirements for financial groups with respect to any of their branches and subsidiaries located in Iran.

The bills to ratify the Palermo and Terrorist Financing Conventions have passed the regime’s Parliament, but are not yet in force.

The FATF in its statement stressed that: “If before February 2020, Iran does not enact the Palermo and Terrorist Financing Conventions in line with the FATF Standards, then the FATF will fully lift the suspension of counter-measures and call on its members and urge all jurisdictions to apply effective counter-measures”.

Hassan Rouhani, the president of the mullahs, tried to pass the FATF in the regime’s parliament. However, the Guardian Council and Expediency Discernment Council prevented him.

#Iran Regime Factions Fight over Fate of FATF after Terrorist Designation https://t.co/FQP1Wd8I2i #BlackListIRGC #IRGCTerrorists #BlackListMOIS @USAdarFarsi

— MEKIran (@MEK_Iran) April 18, 2019

Convincing the parliament, Rouhani sent Zarif, the Foreign Minister, to the parliament. In his speech in the parliament, he accused the opponents of money laundering and said: “money laundering is a reality in our country, many take advantage of money laundering. I don’t want to accuse a specific person, but where there are thousands of dollars’ worth of money laundering, for sure they can afford to pay tens of thousands of dollars for propaganda against passing the bill.”

In order to be removed from the blacklist of FATF, after the JCPOA, the Iranian regime accepted to comply with the international laws protecting the international financial system from money laundering and financing of terrorism.

However, the firm reality in Iran is that the extra-territorial activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and sponsoring terrorist proxy forces in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, and elsewhere, prevent the Iranian regime joining the international treaties including FATF. Following the listing of the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization by the US, this regime cannot accept any restrictions on financing its terrorist proxy forces and money laundering by the IRGC.

After revelations on their nuclear program by the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK) deprived the mullahs of acquiring nuclear weapons, on which the mullahs counted for survival, the Iranian regime accelerated its warmongering policies to keep its balance. Accepting FATF would lead to leashing the regime in its export of terrorism, so it is not acceptable to them.

The Iranian regime cannot and will not compel with the international laws and as the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo said, act like a normal country.

The MEK has constantly urged the West to stop appeasing the despotic mullahs in Iran. Based on four decades of experience, the MEK emphasized that the only right policy toward this regime is a firm one excluding any negotiations. This experience comes from forty years of resistance by the MEK against this barbarian regime.

The Iranian people’s immediate demand from the world and their lawful expectation from the #Poland Summit is for them to recognize the right of the Iranian people’s Resistance to overthrow the mullahs’ theocratic regime to achieve freedom.#WarsawSummit#Iran pic.twitter.com/rxaJkUKIRP

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) February 14, 2019

It is time for the west to stand on the right side of the history and recognize the right of resistance against the dictatorial regime ruling Iran and also recognize the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and the MEK as its core force, as a reliable alternative to this regime.

Time magazine recently published an article on October 4, with the title “Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Is One Despot Trump Might Not Win Over”, but there were some major issues related to the magazine’s assessment of mullah’s regime and the organized Iranian opposition group the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). What’s more, when Shahin Gobadi, the Press Spokesman for the MEK in Paris wrote a rebuttal, Time failed to publish it.

Iran’s Regime Continues to Spread Misinformation Against MEK

Gobadi noted that the author of the piece took an “irrelevant” and “unwarranted” swipe at the MEK in a way that seemed to be parroting the mullahs’ narrative that there is no viable alternative to the regime and that the West must appease them at any cost.

The author spouted several long-disproved claims about the MEK, including being a Marxist cult and having minimal support. These are exactly the sort of far-fetched claims made by the mullahs on a regular basis.

Now, those who have actually taken the time to visit the MEK headquarters in Albania and speak to the residents up close and privately, like the over 350 bipartisan former and current officials and lawmakers from 47 countries who attended the Free Iran rally in July,  have a very different view. We can also see how popular the MEK is because its activities, including the five-day Free Iran rally in Albania, are funded through donations by Iranians at home and abroad.

Visiting #Ashraf3, #MEK's compound in Albania- July 12, 2019#FreeIran #IStandWithMaryamRajavi #WeSupportMEK https://t.co/ho28vMnv5C @USAdarFarsi @RudyGiuliani @NikkiHaley @vp @AmbJohnBolton

— MEKIran (@MEK_Iran) July 16, 2019

Gobadi wrote that the author is also wrong about the current state of the Iranian regime.

He said:

“The mullahs are on borrowed time and have never been so fragile and vulnerable at home as anti-regime protests by different sectors of society have persisted despite brutal repression. Last week’s uprising by thousands of people in Lordegan, central Iran, in which angry protesters set fire to offices of the Governor and the representative of the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, while chanting “death to the dictator” was the latest in the series of protests, which began in late 2017 in 160 Iranian cities and shook the regime to its foundations. The economy is on the verge of collapse and the mullahs’ regional transgressions have backfired.”

He continued to explain that the regime’s regional belligerence is just “an attempt to divert attention from the terminal domestic crises gripping the regime” and that senior officials admit to fighting abroad to avoid a civil war that the mullahs could not survive.