THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 9:00 PM CET
Iran Uprising at a Glance – Day 153
Based partially on reporting by PMOI (MEK) Network in Iran
Wednesday, February 15, 2023 – 8 PM GMT + 1
- Days: 153
- Protests: 282 cities
- Fatalities: 750+ estimated deaths, 647 identified by MEK
- Detentions: 30,000
Iran’s nationwide uprising witnessed its 153rd day on Wednesday as more people from different walks of life took to the streets and held protest rallies, chanting slogans against the regime.
Workers of the Iran Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex in Bandar Abbas, a major port city in southern Iran, held a gathering on Wednesday and protested mismanagement, delayed paychecks, and other problems regarding their working and pay conditions.
February 15 – Bandar Abbas, southern #Iran
Workers of the Iran Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex are protesting mismanagement, delayed paychecks, and other problems regarding their working conditions.#IranProtests2023 #اعتراضات_سراسرى pic.twitter.com/748aPtz1A9— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) February 15, 2023
People in the city of Eslamabad-e-Gharb of Kermanshah Province held a gathering today and protested the local officials’ hollow promises of providing real estate.
February 15 – Eslamabad-e-Gharb, western #Iran
People are holding a gathering and protesting local officials' hollow promises on providing real estate.#IranProtests2023 #اعتراضات_سراسرى pic.twitter.com/1a29YisUcO— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) February 15, 2023
People in Dehloran of Ilam Province, western Iran, sought to start anti-regime protests and demolish an IRGC paramilitary Basij statue at one of the city’s main squares on Tuesday night, local activists say. Members of the regime security forces responded by opening fire and protesters returned fire, according to incoming reports. As a result of the clashes two members of the regime’s security forces and two protesters were injured.
In Tehran, locals in the capital’s Niavaran Street chanted anti-regime slogans, including: “Khamenei, have some shame! Let go of the country!”
February 14 – Tehran, #Iran
Locals in the capital's Niavaran Street area were chanting anti-regime slogans, including:
"Khamenei, have some shame! Let go of the country!"#IranRevoIution #مرگ_بر_ستمگر_چه_شاه_باشه_چه_رهبر pic.twitter.com/jOaX35T9IU— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) February 15, 2023
In Tehran, courageous locals burned the regime’s propaganda banner.
Also in Karaj, west of Tehran Protesters burned a poster of the regime’s founders Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei.
Another regime’s propaganda billboard was torched in Mashhad, northeast Iran, and protesters burned a regime propaganda poster on the anniversary of Iran’s 1979 revolution.
In Kashan central Iran, locals set another large regime propaganda poster on fire.
UPDATE: 2:30 PM CET
Al Qaeda’s New ‘De Facto’ Leader Saif Al Adel Is Under the Protection of Iran, UN Says
A United Nations team has determined that the new leader of al Qaeda is Saif al Adel — a longtime jihadi who has spent years operating in Iran under the protection of the Iranian regime. Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second-in-command to Osama bin Laden who took the helm of al Qaeda in 2011 after bin Laden was killed by the United States in Pakistan, was himself killed in a U.S. air strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, last summer. The U.N.’s specialized monitoring team said this week that the “predominant view” of U.N. member countries is that Iran-based Adel “is now the de facto leader” of al Qaeda, the terrorist group responsible for 9/11 and many other deadly terrorist attacks worldwide and that his leadership is “uncontested.”
US Intel Agency Confirms Russian Use of Iranian Weapons in Ukraine
The U.S. intelligence community has confirmed that Russia has used Iranian-made weapons throughout its nearly yearlong war in Ukraine.
A new report from the Defense Intelligence Agency, released on Tuesday, analyzed the Shahed-136 one-way attack UAV, the Shahed-131 one-way attack UAV, and the Mohajer-6 multirole UAV. The report compares photos taken of weapons recovered by the Ukrainians with recently declassified images of Iranian UAVs used to attack U.S. and partner interests in the Middle East.
U.S. officials have repeatedly accused Iran of helping Russia in its war in Ukraine and have warned about their growing partnership that threatens both the Middle East and beyond.
Suspected Iranian Weapons Seized by U.S. Navy May Go to Ukraine
The U.S. military is considering sending Ukraine thousands of seized weapons and more than a million rounds of ammunition once bound for Iran-backed fighters in Yemen, an unprecedented step that would help Kyiv battle Russian forces, U.S. and European officials said.
U.S. officials said they are looking at sending Ukraine more than 5,000 assault rifles, 1.6 million rounds of small arms ammunition, a small number of antitank missiles, and more than 7,000 proximity fuses seized in recent months off the Yemen coast from smugglers suspected of working for Iran.
The unusual move would open up a new supply of firepower America and its allies could tap into as they struggle to meet Ukraine’s need for military support as its war with Russia enters its second year.
UPDATE: 10:30 AM CET
EU to Sanction Iran Entities Involved in Russian War in Ukraine – von Der Leyen
BRUSSELS, Feb 15 (Reuters) – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday the EU will propose sanctions targeting for the first time Iranian economic operators involved in the Russian war in Ukraine.
“For the first time we are also proposing to sanction Iranian entities including those linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard,” Von der Leyen told European lawmakers in Strasbourg.
Von der Leyen said the 10th package of sanctions, worth a total of 11 billion euros ($11.79 billion), would target new trade bans and technology export controls, including drones, helicopters and missiles.
New Zealand Imposes New Sanctions on Iran Over Supply of Drones to Russia
New Zealand on Wednesday announced new sanctions against eight Iranian individuals and entities over the supply of drones to Russia and those responsible for the violent response to recent protests in Iran.
Under the new sanctions, New Zealand targeted the head of the Supply, Research and Industrial Affairs Division at the Iranian Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, the commander of the Iranian Air Force, and companies responsible for the manufacturing of drones, said Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta in a statement.
“New Zealand condemns all individuals and entities supporting Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” said Mahuta.
UPDATE: 8:30 AM CET
Protests in Iran Continue by People from Different Strata
Iran’s cities are witnessing protests by people from different walks of life as the nation continues to voice its utter hatred of the mullahs’ dictatorship, including the oppressive Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and paramilitary Basij units that are on the ground suppressing the peaceful demonstrators.
Protests in Iran have to this day expanded to at least 282 cities. Over 750 people have been killed and more than 30,000 are arrested by the regime’s forces, according to sources of the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The names of 647 killed protesters have
Iranian Girls High Schools: Systematic Poisoning Sparks Outrage and Demands for Action
The serial gas poisoning of students in girls high schools in Qom reached Tehran. At the same time, the families of the poisoned students protested in front of the Qom governorate.
Some 30 students of one of Tehran’s girls high schools got respiratory poisoning and went to the hospital on Tuesday, February 14, 2023. (The state-run Hamshahri newspaper – February 14, 2023)
According to the students at the girls’ high school in Tehran’s Monirieh District, “Around 9 o’clock, there was a smell in the air of the class, the whole class was almost suffocating. We all came out. Little by little, they came out from the rest of the classes. The whole building was full. The smell was like pepper spray or tear gas because some of the students’ eyes were burning.”
The Destruction of Lake Urmia and Frequent Earthquakes
About two weeks ago, a strong earthquake (5.9 magnitudes) at a depth of 7 kilometers shook the city of Khoy in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province at around 21:44 local time. The quake was strong enough that even the people in Urmia felt the shocks.
According to the state-run media, at least three people lost their lives in the disaster and more than 1000 people were injured. Reports indicate more than 70 villages have been damaged, with around 20 of them almost completely decimated. More than 30 villages are also lacking electricity.
University Professors Are Being Fired by the Ministry of Science
The large-scale dismissal of university professors and the subsequent reflection of this news in cyberspace and the media made the Ministry of Science of Ebrahim Raisi to react. Although there are news and documented reports that university professors are being fired from educational centers for declaring their support for the uprising of the Iranian people, the Ministry of Science claimed that no professor was fired for political reasons.
Morteza Farrokhi, the Deputy Minister of Law of the Ministry of Science, told ISNA on Monday, 13th of February, that there are no statistics on the dismissal of university professors after the recent protests, and at the same time he claimed that “if there are cases of dismissal of professors, it is due to academic incompetence and failure to receive grades.”
The British Committee for Iran Freedom (BCFIF): UK Must Stand With the Iranian People and Their Resistance as Iran Embarks on a New Revolution
The British Committee for Iran Freedom (BCFIF) issued a statement on the anniversary of Iran’s 1979 anti-monarchic revolution.
In part of the statement, Mr. Bob Blackman MP prominent member of the BCFIF wrote: “Today’s nationwide protests against the regime with popular chants of “Down with dictator” and “Down with the oppressor, be it the Shah or the Supreme Leader” are the continuation of that popular dissent and the culmination of sacrifices made by the people of Iran and their popular resistance movement to end the religious dictatorship for a free, democratic and secular republic”.
Also, read Iran News in Brief – February 14, 2023
