Iran’s murderous regime hanged two young arrested protesters, Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad Hosseini, at dawn on January 7.
What the regime envisioned as a tool to suppress society backfired, as protests continued both inside and outside Iran. Locals took to the streets in Tehran and other cities, chanting anti-regime slogans. Defiant youth sprayed graffiti on walls across Iran, vowing to follow in the footsteps of Karami, Hosseini, and the other 750 martyrs of the nationwide uprising.
In fear of the continuation of the nationwide uprising, the mullahs’ regime has launched a new wave of arrests of families and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK/PMOI) and former political prisoners under various pretexts and falsifications.
The IRGC-affiliated news agency published today a statement by the regime’s Ministry of Intelligence claiming to have identified and arrested the main elements of the “largest network of financing and supply of equipment for the operational teams” of the PMOI.
The statement claims: “This extensive network was responsible for transferring money from abroad through complicated money laundering methods and providing various equipment for the terrorist-operational teams of the Monafeqin (i.e., PMOI). The leader of the network, Ali Mohammad Dowlati, son of Gholam Hossein, is one of the important elements of the Monafeqin and has offices and institutions in the UAE and the Netherlands.
Taking advantage of the cooperation between Albania, the UAE, and the Netherlands, he provided operational guidelines and the necessary disguise for financing and providing logistics to the terrorists. Inside the country, several offices, institutions, and liaisons, via Monafeqin affiliates, conducted the process of handing over money and supplies through contacts abroad and carrying out multi-layered processes of money laundering with the aim of cleansing traces of the Monafeqin, and finally used to deliver money, weapons, explosives and technology, and telecommunications equipment to terrorist teams, and even recruited thugs (to launch) the recent riots.
Among those arrested is the father of a member of a terrorist operational team who had been arrested nearly three years ago, and his arrest led to widespread attacks against the security and judiciary apparatuses by the media affiliated with the opposition due to his affiliation with an important technology university.”
The MOIS finishes its statement by threatening the POMI’s host countries, including Albania, the Netherlands, and the UAE, that PMOI’s presence in these countries “does not and will not bear any result other than fomenting illegal and terrorist activities in those countries.”
It is worth reminding that Miryousef Younesi, a political prisoner under Shah’s dictatorship and current clerical rule, and the father of Ali Younesi, an elite student of Sharif University of Technology, who has been behind bars since 33 months ago, was arrested in Shahrood on December 28. He had spent three years in prison during Shah’s time and nine years during the current regime’s rule because of his support and association with the PMOI. The MOIS’s false excuses and claims against him and other detainees are the regime’s known methods of confronting the Iranian Resistance and uprising for the past 40 years.
On Sunday, January 1, a bunch of MOIS agents raided Mr. Younesi’s residence in Tehran and took away their personal belongings, including the computer and mobile phones, after beating and insulting his wife.
The PMOI and NCRI lawyers, as well as the parliamentary committees for a Free Iran in various countries around the world, demand to attend trials of those arrested in the financial case and thousands of others who, according to the statement of the December 27 of the PMOI’s Social Headquarters inside Iran, were arrested in the first 100 days of the uprising due to their connections with the PMOI.
According to the latest reports protesters in at least 280 cities throughout Iran’s 31 provinces have taken to the streets for 105 days now seeking to overthrow the mullahs’ regime. Over 750 have been killed by regime security forces and at least 30,000 arrested, via sources affiliated to the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK.
Following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested by morality police in Tehran on September 13 for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women, the Iranian people continued their nationwide uprising for the 105th day on Thursday. In response to the event, protests erupted in at least 280 cities. According to sources from the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the regime’s forces have killed over 750 people and arrested over 30,000. The MEK has released the names of 601 protesters who were killed.
On the same day, residents gathered in Tehran’s famous Beheshte Zahra Cemetery to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Hamidreza Rouhi’s death at the hands of the regime’s security forces. The ceremony quickly devolved into an anti-regime rally, with participants chanting anti-mullah slogans such as “Death to Khamenei!” and “Death to the dictator!” The area was surrounded by security forces. Participants in the ceremony began erecting roadblocks against the regime’s security forces, who retaliated by attacking the mourners and firing tear gas.
Similar ceremonies were held for another protester, Ali Abbasi, in the city of Isfahan. Participants were heard yelling, “Khomeini, be damned!” Locals in the western Iranian city of Dehgolan gathered to mark the 40th anniversary of Mohsen Niazi’s murder and began chanting “Death to Khamenei!”
Locals gathered in Ahvaz, southwest Iran, for a ceremony in memory of Atefeh Naami, who was murdered by the regime’s security forces and chanted anti-regime slogans. Locals in Izeh held a similar ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of Ali Shariati’s death at the hands of the regime’s security forces.
People gathered in a village near the city of Marvadasht in Fars Province, south-central Iran, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Arman Emadi’s murder by regime security forces. They began chanting anti-regime slogans, particularly condemning the Revolutionary Guards and the paramilitary Basij.
Locals gathered in Qazvin, northwest Iran, to mark the third day since Mehrdad Malak was murdered by the regime’s oppressive security forces. Authorities had dispatched two busloads of security personnel to quell the protests.
Locals in Izeh gathered for a memorial ceremony for Hamed Salahshour, who was murdered by the regime’s security forces.
Protesters in Gilan Province set up roadblocks on the Ramdasht-Rudsar road on Thursday night to seize control of their streets and prevent authorities from dispatching forces to quell their protests.
People in Mashhad, northeast Iran, took to the streets on Wednesday night, chanting anti-regime slogans such as “Death to the dictator!” in reference to Khamenei. Similar protests were witnessed and reported in Tehran’s Aryashahr, Saadatabad, and Ferdows districts.
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) December 28, 2022
Iranian opposition President-elect Maryam Rajavi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) praised the Iranian people, particularly the brave youth, for their unwavering protests against the mullahs’ regime, which is keeping the ongoing revolution alive.
“You, Iran’s valiant youths, have found the secret to victory and freedom, which is the expansion and continuation of the protests. No power can prevent the continuation of your uprising. Flogging, torture, and execution cannot counter your power of hope and faith,” the NCRI President-elect emphasized.
You, #Iran’s valiant youths, have found the secret to victory and freedom, which is the expansion and continuation of the protests. No power can prevent the continuation of your uprising. Flogging, torture, & execution cannot counter your power of hope and faith.#IranRevolutionpic.twitter.com/VhStC6bG3R
Tehran’s ruling elite has almost entirely suppressed political dissent and used its vast intelligence apparatus to sow divisions among the Iranian diaspora.
The message is clear: the government is corrupt and illegitimate, but the opposition is even worse. This narrative has served to justify an already willing West’s willingness to maintain the status quo and pursue engagement with Tehran at the expense of the Iranian people. It has offered regime incentive after incentive in an attempt to persuade it to change its behavior.
Despite numerous massacres and crackdowns, one serious Iranian opposition group remains, with both the most extensive international activism and a track record of carrying out the most daring operations inside Iran.
When the NCRI organizes a conference or a political gathering to criticize the regime on human rights violations, nuclear advances, or regional adventurism, the aforementioned coalition of MEK opponents becomes vocal and warns Western media and politicians that “this group has no domestic support.” The MEK/NCRI are therefore not deserving of international support, the argument goes.
One wonders how the MEK has survived financially and logistically for four decades with “no domestic support.” There are a few undeniable facts that may help address the problem:
Since 1979, the regime has killed more than 120,000 MEK members and supporters, according to the MEK. Human rights organizations and even opponents of the MEK have repeatedly stated that the MEK has suffered the most as a result of the regime’s brutal crackdown.
One wonders how the MEK has survived financially and logistically for four decades with “no domestic support.” There are a few undeniable facts that may help address the problem.
The MEK has been Iran’s largest political opposition since 1965. By far the most enduring and largest coalition of Iranian groups and individuals is the NCRI. It was founded in Tehran in 1981 as a viable alternative to the clerical regime. Since 1982, the MEK has been capable of mobilizing tens of thousands of supporters in exile, and it continues to be capable of organizing the largest conferences, rallies, and meetings in exile.
Inside Iran, the MEK and NCRI have revealed a staggering amount of information about the regime’s nuclear and biochemical weapons programs, ballistic missile arsenal, Revolutionary Guards Corps, IRGC Quds Force, Ministry of Intelligence, the regime’s global terrorist network, and human rights violations, among other things. No other entity even comes close.
MEK Resistance Units are spreading throughout Iran. For more than five years, these fearless men and women, mostly in their twenties and thirties, have popularized defiant acts. Officials from the regime have repeatedly warned about the spread of Resistance Units in Iran.
Gauging one’s popularity is unrealistic and unscientific in the absence of even the smallest amount of freedom and free elections under a brutal dictatorship like Ali Khamenei’s reign. Even polls in Western democracies have flaws, let alone political polls conducted within the Iranian dictatorship. How can anyone expect an objective assessment of the popularity of a banned organization like the MEK? The regime regards it as an existential threat. Thousands have been executed for refusing to reject the MEK.
“In an era of bloody oppression, resistance is the only criterion and indicator of legitimacy,” NCRI founder Massoud Rajavi once said. All candidates claiming to represent the will of the people can put their claims to the test in a free country with free elections overseen by the United Nations.
According to the latest reports protesters in at least 280 cities throughout Iran’s 31 provinces have taken to the streets for 101 days now seeking to overthrow the mullahs’ regime. Over 750 have been killed by regime security forces and at least 30,000 arrested, via sources affiliated to the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK.
On Sunday, Iran’s nationwide uprising reached its 101st day, with a new round of nightly protests by people from all walks of life in cities across the country. Many cities, including Tehran, Mashhad, Sanandaj, Isfahan, and Bandar Abbas, braved the bitter winter cold and snowfall to launch anti-regime protests with slogans such as “Death to Khamenei!”
Protests in Iran have now spread to at least 280 cities. According to sources from the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the regime’s forces have killed over 750 people and arrested over 30,000. The MEK has released the names of 601 protesters who were killed.
According to early Sunday morning reports, merchants and store owners in the northwest Iranian city of Bukan are on strike in solidarity with the nationwide uprising against the mullahs’ regime.
A large crowd gathered in Bukan to remember protesters killed by security forces during the nationwide uprising. Protesters chanted, “Martyrs don’t die!” as the gathering turned into an anti-regime rally.
On the 40th day following the death of Borhan Karami, another protester killed by security forces, there was another protest rally held close to Kamyaran. Protesters vowed to continue the path of the martyrs of the revolution.
Employees of the local Real Estate Registration Organization went on strike across the country on Saturday morning. A group of students held a protest rally in Tehran’s Tehranpars district, chanting “Death to the dictator!”
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) December 25, 2022
In other news from Tehran, residents began chanting anti-regime slogans in the City Theater Metro Station, prompting security forces to fire tear gas into the building. Protesters in Tehran’s Narmak district took to the streets as well, chanting, “Khamenei, you dictator! We will bury you!”
Similar protests were reported in Saqqez, Mahsa Amini’s hometown in Kurdistan Province, western Iran. Mahsa Amini was a victim of Tehran’s ruthless morality police. She was a Kurdish ethnic minority member from Saqqez, a town in northwest Iran. She was savagely beaten by morality police and died of her injuries in a Tehran hospital on September 16.
Protesters lit fires in Sanandaj’s Nabbovat square and chanted anti-regime slogans. Protesters marched through the streets of Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city in northeast Iran. Despite heavy snowfall, Karaj residents held a protest rally. Protesters marched through the streets of Isfahan at night.
Demonstrations of a similar nature were reported in Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, and other cities and towns. This is yet another proof of the Iranian people’s determination to continue these rallies despite all of the mullahs’ crackdown measures, let alone the recent executions of two protesters and death sentences issued for many others arrested for participating in the uprising.
A few weeks before the anti-regime protests began, the ruling theocracy’s Supreme National Defense University issued a report warning authority that “three out of every four Iranians participate in protests.”
On Saturday, December 24, Iran will mark the 100th day of its nationwide uprising. Iranian cities have been witnessing the bravery of people from all walks of life for the past 100 days. Following the death of a young Kurdish girl in the custody of the so-called “morality police,” protests erupted across the country. Within hours, protesters’ slogans began to target the entire regime, particularly its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
According to the report “Iran after [the Persian Year] 1400,” the two large-scale protests in January 2018 and November 2019, as well as the sanctions, the regime’s mismanagement of economic impulses, and its policies over the last three decades, “promise a deep social change in the near future.”
Khamenei, as usual, unleashed his thugs and resorted to a brutal crackdown. According to the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK), over 750 people have been killed, two detained protesters –Majid Reza Rahnavard and Mohsen Shekari– have been hanged, and tens of thousands have been arrested.
The clerical regime does not have a viable solution to Iran’s economic and social problems. The systematic corruption, squandering of the nation’s national wealth on terrorism and obtaining a nuclear bomb, and fortifying the oppressive apparatus are what have caused the country’s economic crisis.
The regime’s primary vulnerability, which drives its strategic orientations, stems from its domestic historical, political, religious, and social illegitimacy. Without a popular domestic base, the regime is sailing too close to the wind. Human rights violations, support for terrorism, and the pursuit of their nuclear weapons program are as essential to Khamenei and his regime as breathing.
As a result, the mullahs’ only option is a brutal crackdown. In fact, the regime’s entire military apparatus is geared toward putting down uprisings.
In such a case, the continuation of protests confirms that they are indeed organized. The MEK’s Resistance Units Network has been a major driving force behind this organization. By torching the mullahs’ symbols, posters, and statues, this network has spread a culture of defiance in the face of the regime. Resistance Units have also taken the lead in the current uprising.
Furthermore, the Iranian Resistance has successfully mobilized the international community to further isolate the ruling theocracy. The MEK’s activities have compelled regime officials to issue warnings about its impact on Iranian society, particularly youth.
The presence of organized opposition, a viable alternative, and the continuation of the democratic revolution despite the regime’s harsh crackdown portend a change on the horizon and Tehran’s absolute powerlessness.
The time has come for the international community to recognize the legitimacy of the Iranian people’s fight and self-defense against this evil and terrorist force, to blacklist the regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and Intelligence Ministry as the regime’s main crackdown arsenal, to provide the Iranian people with 24/7 uninterrupted internet access, and to sever all diplomatic and economic ties with Tehran.
The mullahs will only retreat when confronted with a truly perplexing strategic choice that threatens the regime’s survival, not when given a platform to deceive and outwit.
In the Ekbatan neighborhood, protesters chanted “Answer is on the street, Seyyed Ali [Khamenei] is torn apart.” Cries of “Death to the dictator” and “Death to Khamenei” echoed in Chitgar township and Kashani street.
On Monday evening, December 19, the 95th night of the uprising, young people and residents held nightly demonstrations and protests in various parts of Tehran. In Enghelab and Jamalzadeh streets, protesters chanted “Poverty, corruption, high prices, we will march to overthrow,” “We don’t want child-killer rulers,” “Political prisoners must be released” and “For every fallen person, one thousand will rise.” The young people clashed with agents who opened fire on them.
According to the latest reports protesters in at least 280 cities throughout Iran’s 31 provinces have taken to the streets for 94 days now seeking to overthrow the mullahs’ regime. Over 700 have been killed by regime security forces and at least 30,000 arrested, via sources affiliated to the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK.
Iranians have continued their nationwide uprising for the 94th day after protests erupted in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested by the morality police. According to People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK) sources, the regime’s forces have killed over 700 people and arrested over 30,000. The names of 596 protesters killed have been released by the MEK. Firefighters in Tabriz went on strike and held protest rallies on Sunday in response to the regime’s failure to respond to their demands regarding wages, mismanagement by government officials, and other grievances.
On Sunday evening, Tehran residents in South Shahin, Darband, Sattar Khan, Darvazeh Dowlat metro, and some other areas held nightly protests and chanted, “Death to Khamenei,” “Death to the Dictator” and “Death to IRGC.”
On Monday, December 19, the 95th day of the uprising, in Tehran, a group of young people marched on Enghelab Street chanting “Poverty, corruption, high prices, we will march to overthrow” and “For every fallen person, one thousand rises.” This was despite the large presence of suppressive forces and plainclothes agents.
During the conference, its speakers delivered policy recommendations on the Iranian revolution and the international community’s role in supporting the Iranian people’s legitimate demand for regime change.
On Saturday, renowned American politicians gathered in Washington, D.C., to show their support for the nationwide Iranian uprising. President-elect Maryam Rajavi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), was the keynote speaker at the event, which was organized by the Organization of Iranian-American Communities (OIAC).
![In Ekbatan neighborhood, protesters chanted “Answer is on the street, Seyyed Ali [Khamenei] is torn apart.” Cries of “Death to the dictator” and “Death to Khamenei” echoed in Chitgar township and Kashani street.](https://mek-iran.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/night-protests-3-150x150.jpg)
![In Ekbatan neighborhood, protesters chanted “Answer is on the street, Seyyed Ali [Khamenei] is torn apart.” Cries of “Death to the dictator” and “Death to Khamenei” echoed in Chitgar township and Kashani street.](https://mek-iran.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/night-protests-3.jpg)
