The Muharram mourning ceremony is a commemorative ritual that is practiced by Shia Muslims. It marks the anniversary of the death of the third Shi’ite Imam, Hossain-ibn Ali almost fourteen centuries ago. He fought for freedom and was martyred by the forces of the second Umayyad caliph near the city of Karbala. The people of Iraq used this event to honor Hossain-ibn Ali’s legacy by protesting against the Iranian regime and the presence of its terrorist agents in Iraq.

Over the weekend, students gathered in cities across Iraq as arranged previously with the October Demonstration Committee. Large numbers of students participated and they made their major concerns heard.

The situation inside Iraq is currently very similar to the domestic situation in Iran. The people in both countries are hugely troubled by the political events and the corruption that is so present in Iran and Iraq.

Several hundred, according to some sources, and several thousand, according to other sources, rallied last Friday, January 24 in Baghdad in response to a call for a “million-man strong demonstration against US presence in Iraq” by Moqtada a-Sadr, an Iraqi Shiite firebrand known for his extreme and unforeseeable political positions. In a tweet sent later in the day, Sadr showed his disgust towards the Iraqis who did not take his word for taking part in the rally. From his headquarters back in the city of Qom in central Iran, Moqtada a-Sadr had been preparing the move for several weeks, in a bid to take a leading position in ongoing Iraqi unrest along with Iranian support.

Since the beginning of October last year, the people of Iraq have managed to maintain momentum on their nationwide uprising. They have been protesting against political corruption that has transformed their country into a shadow of its former self.

On 3^rd January, two top terrorists linked to the Iranian regime were killed during a drone strike in Iraq that was carried out by the United States. Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis has had strong links to the Iranian regime for years and since 2011 served as deputy chief of an Iraqi militia named Hashd al-Shaabi (which has been described as Iraq’s equivalent to the Iranian regime’s repressive Basij Force).

More than 1000 young Iraqi protesters attacked the Iranian consulate in the holy city of Karbala on Sunday evening, with demonstrators torching the wall outside of the consulate before placing an Iraqi flag on the wall around the consulate.

The uprising in #Iraq show their anger against the poor economic and social situation in their countryhttps://t.co/qKhLhoZftK#WeSupportMEK #MEK #FreeIran @USAdarFarsi pic.twitter.com/OxMtPoAVoq

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) October 8, 2019

On the night alone, Iraqi security forces shot dead three protesters and wounded 19 others as the attempted to disperse the protesters, but over 250 people have been killed since the protests began early last month.
The Associated Press reported that security forces in Baghdad have fired tear gas and rubber bullets to keep protesters from breaching the barricades on two main bridges leading to the heavily fortified Green Zone, where the government is headquartered.
The protesters have made clear that one of their major problems is the Iranian regime’s control in Iraq and one of their main demands has been the expulsion of the Iranian regime and its proxy militias from Iraq. The protesters have explained to international media that the Iran-backed government of Iraq is corrupt and kowtows to the mullahs.
The AP said that protesters in southern Iraq attacked the offices of Iran-backed political parties and militias, “setting fire to some of them”, and that the attack on the Iranian consulate in Karbala, located south of Baghdad, is just “the latest sign of mounting anger against Tehran’s involvement in the country’s affairs”.
These protests are bigger in the southern provinces of Iraq because that is where Tehran has the most influence and because Karbala, which is one of the world’s main Shiite pilgrimage sites, holds enormous importance for Iran’s regime.

Reports of continuing demonstrations in #Iraq with more protests against #Iran's malign meddling.https://t.co/0g1LDhUeTF

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 5, 2019

The Wall Street Journal reported: “Iraqi protesters last year torched the Iranian consulate in Basra in a similar attack, although the protests that triggered it was smaller. The rage against Iran has been fuelled by allegations by human-rights groups that paramilitary groups backed by Tehran have killed and abducted protesters as part of a crackdown by security forces that has killed more than 250 people since the protests started.”
The protesters in Karbala had previously gone out with banners that read: “Iran is the reason for the catastrophe.”
Meanwhile, Iraqi protesters in the holy city of Najaf have also shown their fury at Iranian interference in their country by changing the name of the main street therefrom “Khomeini”, which is the last name of the Iranian regime’s founder and former supreme leader, to “October revolution”.
The protesters’ problems will not end until the Iranian Regime is gone.

Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK) time and again warned about the meddling of the Iranian regime in Iraq.

Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei broke his two-week silence on the intensifying crises facing the regime in the Middle East, during a ceremony at the Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Academy on Wednesday, where he expressed concern about the future of the regime.

In his remarks, Khamenei, on several occasions, addressed the critical state of the Iranian regime and claimed, wrongly, that the “enemies” of the regime were trying to “disrupt” the true interests of the Iranian people.

This is actually an admission that there is great turmoil in the regime at the moment, with the regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), and other troops, losing confidence in the regime and defecting.

MEK-Iran: #Iran’s Supreme Leader’s Mouthpiece Calls for Takeover of US Embassy in #Iraq
https://t.co/vGQa4sI8n9#MEK pic.twitter.com/fTC1LwTFIv

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) November 2, 2019

Khamenei addressed this previously on October 2, during a session with IRGC commanders and outright admitted that defections were a major issue; something that is significant because his regime is trying to keep power in Iraq and Lebanon, which it considers its “strategic depth”. You can see how important these two countries are to the Iranian regime because of how much money the regime invests in their proxy militias there.

Khamenei used the same bizarre thought process to talk about the uprisings in Iraq and Lebanon, saying that it was a “conspiracy” by the enemies of the regime “to cause strife and undermine security” and create a power vacuum.

He said: “The people of Iraq and Lebanon should know that their priority should be security. The peoples of these countries should know that their demands can only be met in the context of legal structures.”

It is clear from this comment that he is actually talking about Iranian surrogates, like former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and National Security Advisor Faleh Fayyadh, and terrorist proxies, like the Popular Mobilization Forces, the terrorist Lebanese Hezbollah and its commander Hassan Nasrollah.

AP: Iraqi people strongly protesting #Iran's meddling.
Tens of thousands of people rallying in Baghdad's Tahrir Square in the largest anti-government rally that began a month ago. Many people have been killed & injured in clashes with security forces.pic.twitter.com/etxh1epR4W

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 2, 2019

Khamenei said that “the enemies had similar plans for Iran”, but failed to note that the Iranian people’s uprising has been going on for nearly two years now. He simply cannot understand that the people of the Middle East don’t like Iranian interference in their affairs.

This only displays the desperate state of this regime, indeed the Shah dictatorship resorted to the same kind of rhetoric linking protests to the “enemy” just before its overthrow. Of course, what is happening in the streets paints a very different picture.

Interestingly, he didn’t comment on theses crises that the regime is dealing with: the growing Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK) units’ activities, intensifying Iranian protests against the Iranian regime, the non-ratification of the anti-money laundering and terrorism financing bills required by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), US sanctions, walking away from the nuclear deal, social crises, etc.

On October 30, 2019, the state-run Keyhan daily, known as the government’s mouthpiece called for the takeover of the US Embassy in Baghdad.

Hossein Shariatmadari, editor and representative of Iranian regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Kayhan newspaper, in its editorial called for the takeover of US Embassy by Iran-backed militias in Iraq, known as “al-Ḥashd ash-Shaʿbī” (also known as “Popular Mobilization Forces”-PMF. PMF along with the criminal ” Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq” another regime proxy which were heavily involved in several massacres of MEK members in Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty.

Shariatmadari whose words reflect Khamenei’s opinions writes:

“in previous note, by mentioning the takeover of US embassy in Iran, which Imam called it the “second revolution”, the issue was raised in the context of a question that why the Iraqi revolutionary youths … are not ending the presence of US embassy in Baghdad, which is the epicenter of conspiracy and espionage against the innocent people of Iraq!? And why are you not eliminating and throwing out this infected wound from your holy land? A takeover of US espionage center in Islamic Iran and eliminating that epicenter of conspiracy had many benefits for us, and then why the revolutionary youths of Iraq deprive their holy land of these benefits?”

https://twitter.com/MEK_Iran/status/1168478578578731008

One of the main demands of demonstrators in Iraq and Lebanon is the eviction of the Iranian regime and its proxy terrorist militias from their country, to divert the issue, supreme leader of the regime Khamenei, claimed that the protests were inspired by Washington and the Saudis.

Accordingly, in the editorial, Shariatmadari concluded that recent uprising in Iraq has been managed by the US embassy and Saudis, and takeover of the US embassy in Baghdad is the first step to confront the uprising and called on Iran-backed militias in Iraq for the seizure of the Embassy.

What Shariatmadari refers to as “the benefits of the US embassy takeover” goes back to the situation of the regime in 1979. At the time the mullahs needed a major crisis in order to eliminate all the democratic forces in Iran and stabilize their position. By taking over the US embassy and taking 52 personnel of the embassy hostage for 444 days, the mullahs suppressed all the democratic forces and tried to establish a theoretical regime with the absolute rule of the mullahs.

The uprising in #Iraq show their anger against the poor economic and social situation in their countryhttps://t.co/qKhLhoZftK#WeSupportMEK #MEK #FreeIran @USAdarFarsi pic.twitter.com/OxMtPoAVoq

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) October 8, 2019

The protests in Iraq and Lebanon threaten the Iranian regime’s regional influence at a time when it is struggling under crippling U.S. sanctions. Since one of the main demands of the demonstrators in Iraq is the eviction of the Iranian regime, its affiliated Shiite parties, and proxy terrorist militias from that country the mullahs are terrified of their position in Iraq.

“During renewed protests this week, men in black plainclothes and masks stood in front of Iraqi soldiers, facing off with protesters and firing tear gas. Residents said they did not know who they were, with some speculating they were Iranians.” AP reported on October 30, 2019, adding: “Iran is afraid of these demonstrations because it has made the most gains in the government and parliament through parties close to it” since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, said Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi security analyst. “Iran does not want to lose these gains. So it has tried to work through its parties to contain the protests in a very Iranian way.”

In southern Iraq, protesters have attacked and torched the offices of political parties and government-backed militias allied with Iran.

“All the parties and factions are corrupt, and this is connected to Iran because it’s using them to try and export its system of clerical rule to Iraq,” said Ali al-Araqi, a 35-year-old protester from the southern town of Nasiriyah, which has seen especially violent clashes between protesters and security forces.

“The people are against this, and that is why you are seeing an uprising against Iran,” he said.

Overnight Tuesday, masked men who appeared to be linked to Iraq’s security forces opened fire on protesters in Karbala, a holy city associated with the martyrdom of one of the most revered figures in Shiite Islam. At least 18 protesters were killed and hundreds were wounded in bloodshed that could mark an ominous turning point in the demonstrations. In Baghdad, protesters burned an Iranian flag. Days earlier, protesters had gathered outside the Iranian Consulate in Karbala, chanting “Iran, out, out!” AP reported.

In such circumstances, the regime needs to resort to violence and to suppress the demonstrators by its militias and affiliated Shiite parties.

The Iranian regime's meddling in the region is not from a position of strength but derives from the crises it faces and its fundamental weaknesses.
#Iran#FreeIran pic.twitter.com/hf1H2ZjeYY

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) January 28, 2019

By raising the issue of the US embassy takeover in Baghdad, Khamenei is trying to bully the Western governments to turn a blind eye to crimes of its proxy forces and militias in Iraq, so the regime and its affiliated forces could freely suppress the uprising.

 

The people of Iraq are protesting in many cities in central and southern Iraq, demanding better services and protesting meddling by the Iranian regime in their country.

On Friday, June 20th, the Iran-backed Badr Corps fired upon Iraqi protesters in Diwaniyah Province in southern Iraq, killing one and injuring two more. A number of groups within the country called for continued demonstrations on Friday to protest unemployment and corruption. These protests were later witnesses in the southern provinces of Iraq, as well as Baghdad.

July 20
Baghdad, #Iraq
Security forces using water cannons to disperse the protesters.
Furious over #Iran's meddling in their country, reports indicate Iraqis have set fire to offices of groups linked to Tehran.#Winning #IraqProtests pic.twitter.com/BhTcXU8pXa

— farmandehMehrdad (@farmandeMehrdad) July 21, 2018

A medical source in Diwaniya was cited by the media as saying that a 20-year-old man was among the protesters killed by Badr Corps members, apparently under the guise of protecting the Badr group site.

Large protests and demonstrations of thousands of people were also seen in Basra and Ziqar provinces in southern Iraq. The protesters gathered outside of the governor’s office in Basra, chanting slogans against corrupt political parties that are affiliated with the Iranian regime. Protesters also called for job opportunities and adequate government services.

In al-Habubi Square in downtown Nasiriyah, one of the largest cities in Dhi Qar Province, hundreds rallied against government corruption. Protesters flew the Iraqi flag and carried signs demanding that the Electricity Minister, the provincial governor and senior province governors all be fired. Angry protesters attempted to enter the house of Dhi Qar Governor Yahya al-Naseri, but security forces fired tear gas into the crowd, forcing the protesters to disperse.

Demonstrators attempted to protest in Baghdad’s Green Zone, home to its government institutions and foreign embassies. Protesters managed to get over the Jomhouri Bridge and were on their way into the Green Zone when anti-riot units appeared with water-cannon trucks and tear gas.

Arab media reported that almost 30 protesters were seen suffering the effects of the tear gas in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square.

Demonstrations in Iraq have been highly coordinated, and protests at this site were called for in solidarity with other demonstrations taking place in Iraq’s southern provinces.

Muqtada Sadr, made his first statement about the protests in the southern province, writing:

“All the election’s victorious political factions should suspend coalition talks until the demonstrators’ rightful demands are responded to.”
Iraq’s southern provinces have an abundance of oil but struggle to provide their citizens with basic government services.

For example, the streets of Basra are strewn with garbage. Pools of water and sewage water are found among the garbage on the streets, which is a major health risk. Drinking water in the province is of low-quality, and the province goes without electricity for seven hours a day.

Iran has experienced similar issues with water quality and scarcity in some of its own provinces, due to the corruption of the mullahs’ regime. The Iranian people, with the support of the MEK, have protested this and many other issues in Iran, including the meddling of the regime in other countries.

The United States supports the Iraqi people in their peaceful protests for change.

Heather Nauert, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, made a statement in support of the Iraq people, saying that Washington believes that poor water and lack of reliable electricity are very painful issues.

She went on to say that the Iraqi government also recognizes the right of the Iraqi people to protest peacefully and plans to address more of their issues, including government services, electricity, and job opportunities.

The MEK opposes meddling by the Iranian regime in the affairs of other countries and the contribution by the regime to corruption and violence in other countries, such as Iraq.