During the days of mourning in the month of Moharam, in fear of a recurrence of 2009 uprising and under the pretext of “increasing level of security and establishing of order”, on the one hand the clerical regime intensified suppression in cities throughout the country and on the other hand limited as much as possible the mourning ceremonies for Imam Hussein.
In addition to mustering the suppressive security forces, revolutionary guards, and plainclothes agents, the clerical regime organized tens of thousands of other elements under the title of “Moharam Assisting Police” to control groups of mourners.
1- On the day of Ashura (10th of Moharam), a great number of the youth were arrested in Tehran and provinces. For instance in Khomeini-Shahr, fifty of the arrestees were transferred by bus to an unknown location.
2- On Friday, November 23 (8th of Moharam), regime’s suppressive elements closed down the Dar al-Zahra Hussienia (house of worship) in Velenjak district north of Tehran. This happened when participants in the mourning ceremony shouted political slogans, demands and protests.
3- On the same day, security forces prevented mourning groups of Haqqani Dervishes in Shahre-Kurd city from coming to the street for mourning ceremonies.
4- Through various directives, the clerical regime had obligated the mourning groups during the ceremonies of Tasua (the day before Ashura) and Ashura to speak on the righteousness of regime’s political stances, the necessity to participate in regime’s elections, support for the supreme leader, praying for regime’s officials and in particular the supreme leader and carrying of his pictures, the necessity to endure economic hardship, and “bringing awareness to the people on the evils of the era (U.S., Israel, etc.). However, the mourning groups refused to implement the directives, defeating this move by the clerical regime. The hatred for the clerical regime is such that even the groups that were assembled by the regime did not dare abuse the mourning ceremonies in favor of the mullahs that use religion as a tool.
5- The regime had prohibited posting of slogans against tyranny taken from the Ashura epic in shops and public places. Regime knows that through these slogans people are pointing to the tyranny of the clerical regime. A number of shopkeepers were summoned to regime’s suppressive organs solely for posting this type of slogans and were ordered to take them down.
6- In Tehran and other cities, under the pretext of distributing water and sherbet to the mourners, booths were put up by the Basij and plainclothes agents in various streets to control movement of the mourners.
7- In many cities, including Hamadan, clerical regime’s leaders put up “congress of Basij” during the days of Tasua and Ashura to pretend that the mourning crowd had assembled in support of Basij elements. Hence they called the assembling place for mourning groups as “meeting place of Basij gatherings”. However, in these cities people refused to participate in state’s mourning ceremonies and revealed regime’s intent. The propaganda by the clerical regime regarding its fomenting of war in Gaza Strip met people’s repugnance and indifference.
8- In the city of Ardabil, suppressive organs pressured mourning groups in various districts to assemble with slogans and placards of the clerical regime. By refusing to participate, people demonstrated their loath for the regime and its demagogic ceremonies.
9- In Ilam and Marand, people deprived regime of propaganda by refusing to participate in mourning ceremonies manipulated by the regime whose participants were mostly from the Basij and the plainclothes agents.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
December 3, 2012
