THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 8:30 PM CET
Iran Uprising at a Glance – Day 198
Based partially on reporting by PMOI (MEK) Network in Iran
Saturday, April 01, 2023 – 8 PM GMT + 1
- Days: 198
- Protests: 282 cities
- Fatalities: 750+ estimated deaths, 675 identified by MEK
- Detentions: 30,000
Iran’s nationwide uprising witnessed its 198th day as People in various parts of Tehran, the capital of Iran, and other cities once again continued night protests against the mullahs’ regime voicing their hatred and opposition to the ruling dictatorship in its entirety and the oppressive security forces. In the city of Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan & Baluchistan, people continued their protests and regime authorities deliberately disrupted internet connections to prevent any news reports and footage from being posted online.
March 31 – Karaj, west of Tehran, #Iran
Locals are chanting anti-regime slogans:
"Down with the dictator!"#IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/5N0YYiTutN— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 31, 2023
In reports from the major port city of Chabahar in Sistan & Baluchestan Province of southeast Iran, locals set fire to tires and blocked a major road for hours on Saturday in protest to the killing of a fuel porter by members of the regime’s oppressive state police.
April 1 – Chabahar, southeast #Iran
Locals set fire to tires and blocked a major road for hours in protest to the killing of a fuel porter by members of the regime's state police.#IranProtests2023 pic.twitter.com/gKYT3L2GxY— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) April 1, 2023
For many of the impoverished people of Sistan & Baluchestan, transferring small amounts of fuel across the border and selling it to customers has become the only means of earning their keep and supporting their families. The reason they live this way is more than four decades of regime corruption and discrimination against the Baluch minority. The regime’s security forces attack and kill them regularly under the pretext of fighting smuggling. Meanwhile, the regime’s own security forces control a huge fuel-smuggling network that dwarfs the activities of the fuel porters of Sistan & Baluchestan Province.
March 31 – Tehran, #Iran
Locals in the capital's Shahrak-e Bagheri district are chanting anti-regime slogans:
"Down with the republic of executions!"
"Down with the child-killing regime!"
"Down with the dictator!"#IranRevolutionpic.twitter.com/WOQM6DZp2w— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 31, 2023
Last night till the early morning hours of today, Locals in Tehran’s different districts, including Shahrak-e Bagheri, along with other cities including Karaj, Qom, and Kazerun were chanting anti-regime slogans, including:
“Down with the dictator!”
“Down with Khamenei, the murderer!”
“Khamenei, you murderer! We will bury you!”
“We swear on the blood of our compatriots, we will stand to the end!”
“We will not appease the murderous [Khamenei]!”
“Down with the child-killing regime!”
“Down with Khamenei!”
“Damned be Khomeini!” referring to regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini.
In Kazerun, south-central Iran in broad daylight People chanted anti-regime slogans, including: “Down with Khamenei!” referring to the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. “Damned be Khomeini!” referring to regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini.
In another development, the MEK has sent to international organizations and United Nations rapporteurs a list of names of its supporters arrested for taking part in Iran’s annual Fire Festival on March 14.
March 31 – Kazerun, south-central #Iran
People began chanting anti-regime slogans, including: "Down with Khamenei!" referring to the regime's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. "Damned be Khomeini!" referring to regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini. #IranRevoIutionpic.twitter.com/zdFZXfRj6Q— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) April 1, 2023
3,626 MEK supporters were arrested or disappeared from the beginning of the uprising on September 16, 2022, to March 20, 2023, and there is no information about their conditions and/or whereabouts. This is aside from the thousands of people arrested in different cities, towns, and villages across the country who were released prior to being identified or were able to flee.
The names and specifications of 3,626 MEK supporters who were arrested or have disappeared are at the disposal of the Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and can be presented to any international court.
UPDATE: 2:00 PM CET
United States Files Forfeiture Action Against Over One Million Rounds of Ammunition Enroute From Iran to Yemen
The Justice Department today announced the filing of a forfeiture complaint against over one million rounds of ammunition, thousands of proximity fuses for rocket-propelled grenades, and thousands of pounds of propellant for rocket-propelled grenades that the U.S. Navy seized in transit from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to militant groups in Yemen. “The United States disrupted a major operation by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to smuggle weapons of war into the hands of a militant group in Yemen. The Justice Department is now seeking the forfeiture of those weapons, including over one million rounds of ammunition and thousands of proximity fuses for rocket-propelled grenades,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department will be relentless in holding accountable those who break our laws and threaten our national security.”
Settlement Agreement Between the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and Uphold HQ Inc.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced a settlement with Uphold HQ Inc. (“Uphold”). Uphold agreed to remit $72,230.32 to settle its potential civil liability for apparent violations of sanctions against Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela. Between March 2017 and May 2022, Uphold or its affiliates processed 152 transactions totaling $180,575.80 in apparent violation of OFAC’s sanctions against Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela. These apparent violations included processing transactions for customers who self-identified as being located in Iran or Cuba and for employees of the Government of Venezuela. The settlement amount reflects OFAC’s determination that Uphold’s apparent violations were non-egregious and voluntarily self-disclosed.
UPDATE: 8:00 AM CET
During Their Visit to Ashraf-3, Maryam Rajavi Met With Liam Fox and Josef Jung
On Thursday, March 30, 2023, Mr. Liam Fox, who served as UK Defense Minister until 2011 and Foreign Trade Minister until 2019, and Mr. Franz-Josef Jung, who was the German Defense Minister until 2009 and former Minister for Federal and European Affairs of Hesse, visited Ashraf-3 and discussed with Maryam Rajavi the current crises faced by the clerical regime in Iran. Maryam Rajavi explained that the September 2022 uprising has changed the equation and shifted the balance of power between the Iranian people and the ruling regime, despite brutal suppression, killings, and arrests. The balance of power will never be the same as it was before the uprising. She also highlighted that the clerical regime resorts to heinous acts in the name of Islam to maintain power, but their actions have nothing to do with Islam.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran has continued to support the Kremlin’s war crimes and spread global terror. It poses a clear threat.
I joined my colleagues in a letter urging the EU to designate them as a foreign terrorist organization. https://t.co/koxkUAV6wc
— Senator Roger Wicker (@SenatorWicker) March 31, 2023
Grateful to introduce bipartisan legislation with @USRepKeating, @RepDeanPhillips, and @RepTenney to ensure that American and EU products are not being used in Iranian drones to attack our allies and murder civilians. pic.twitter.com/9IAkLt5Tyq
— Joe Wilson (@RepJoeWilson) March 31, 2023
Iran’s MEK Resistance Units Launch Anti-regime Measures, Baluchis Renew Protests
Iran’s nationwide uprising is witnessing its 197th day as Resistance Units affiliated to the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) launch a new wave of anti-regime measures in numerous cities across the country. In parallel fashion, the brave Baluchis of Sistan & Baluchestan Province, especially the city of Zahedan, are renewing their protests against the mullahs’ regime. Reports indicated regime officials disrupted internet connections to prevent any reporting and/or posting of today’s protests, including footage.
Wells Fargo To Pay $97.8 Million Over European Bank’s Use of Software To Violate Sanctions
The US Federal Reserve Board yesterday announced that it had fined Wells Fargo & Co. $67.8 million for the firm’s unsafe or unsound practices relating to historical inadequate oversight of sanctions compliance risks at its subsidiary, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. In conjunction, OFAC announced that Wells Fargo Bank had agreed to pay $30 million to settle its potential civil liability for apparent violations of US sanctions on Iran, Syria and Sudan. Federal Reserve Board Notice and Order, OFAC Notice and Settlement Agreement.
From 2008 to 2015, Wells Fargo Bank and its predecessor, Wachovia Bank, provided a trade finance software platform to a European bank so that it could manage some of its own trade instruments (such as letters of credit).
Preliminary Findings on Recent Attack on Azerbaijani Diplomat Point to Iran, Says Baku
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the preliminary results of an investigation into a recent armed attack on an Azerbaijani diplomat point to possible Iranian involvement.
Responding to Iranian allegations of Azerbaijani cooperation with Israel against Tehran, ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizade said it was Iran that was cooperating with other countries to threaten and provoke Baku from across its southern border.
Hajizade pointed to military exercises and flights conducted by Iran near the border between the two countries, as well as anti-Azerbaijan statements by Iranian officials and threatening videos against the country near the Khudafarin bridge on the border.
“The Secret of Reza Pahlavi the 2nd, Entangled in the Lap of the Revolutionary Guards!!!”
In various instances, Shah’s son (Reza Pahlavi) and his mother have shown inclination and admiration for the Revolutionary Guards “IRGC” and the repressive law enforcement forces. However, the Iranian Resistance explicitly advocates for the “dissolution of the IRGC,” recognizing this paramilitary force as the cause of preserving the rule of Khamenei and its crimes in Iran and the neighboring countries. Separating Khamenei’s rule from the IRGC is like distinguishing Hitler’s fascism from Gestapo and other terrifying organizations. Just as Hitler’s fascism had no existence without the vampire-like entity, the idea of Khamenei’s rule without the determining role of the IRGC is a mere illusion.
The Meeting of “Voice of the Iran Revolution” in the Office of the Municipal Council of Sulmona, Italy
March 27, 2023: A meeting entitled “Voice of the Iran Revolution” was held at the initiative of Ms. Gianna Tollis in the office of the municipal council of Sulmona, Italy. Ms. Tollis is responsible for gender equality at the national level in Italy for the Vail trade union and is also the head of the Diosa Association for violence against women. During the meeting, the head of the city council and several city representatives spoke about human rights violations and oppression against women in Iran. Journalists present at the meeting also asked Ms. Shahid Sholeh, who had attended the meeting at the invitation of the municipal council, some questions.
Also, read Iran News in Brief – March 31, 2023
