THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 8:00 PM CET
Iran Protests at a Glance
Based partially on reporting by PMOI (MEK) Network in Iran
Monday, June 12, 2023 – 8 PM GMT + 1
People in different cities and provinces of Iran demonstrated on Monday, June 12, advocating for fundamental rights and improved quality of life. Representing diverse social backgrounds and professions, these individuals gathered to express their collective desire for equitable treatment and the ability to support themselves and their families amidst an economy drowning in severe crises.
June 12 – Ahvaz, southwest #Iran
More footage of retirees and pensioners of the regime's telecom industry from across Khuzestan Province marching and protesting low pensions and poor economic conditions.#IranProtests2023pic.twitter.com/yFJKFWpuHU— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 12, 2023
Retirees and pensioners of the telecom industry staged protests on Monday in various cities across Iran, expressing discontent over their meager pensions and challenging economic circumstances. The demonstrations, following a recurring weekly pattern, took place in Tehran, Ahvaz, Zahedan, Mashhad, Arak, Tabriz, Shiraz, Dezful, Zanjan, Sanandaj, Borujerd, Bojnurd, Rasht, Zahedan, Shahrekord, Yasuj, and other locations.
In Tehran, a group of families with hemophilia patients staged a protest outside the Food and Drug Organization of the regime’s Health Ministry. They expressed frustration over the officials’ refusal to provide access to a new medication called Hemlibra, or Emicizumab, used to treat the illness.
June 12 – #Iran
Retirees and pensioners of the regime's telecom industry in Tabriz, Shiraz, Dezful, and Zanjan are protesting low pensions and poor economic conditions.#IranProtests2023 pic.twitter.com/BN03iLwSxV— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 12, 2023
Meanwhile, municipal workers in the southwestern city of Yasuj organized a protest gathering, demanding the removal of the city’s mayor. These workers expressed concerns about unpaid wages spanning three months.
In the districts of Ekbatan and South Jannat Abad in Tehran, local residents raised their voices against the regime, chanting slogans such as “Down with Khamenei!” and “Down with the dictator!” in reference to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
June 11 – Tehran, #Iran
Locals in the Ekbatan district of the Iranian capital Tehran were chanting anti-regime slogans, including:
"Down with Khamenei!" referring to regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.#IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/vJV98MCbnL— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 12, 2023
Brave youths and members of the MEK network of Resistance Units across Iran have launched a new campaign of anti-regime attacks and measures in the capital Tehran and at least nine other cities, responding to the mullahs’ brutal wave of executions and terrorist attacks. These attacks and measures include:
- MEK Resistance Units torched a large billboard of Khamenei and regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini on a pedestrian bridge on Tehran’s Saadi Expressway
- Brave youths in Karaj, west of Tehran, attacked a building used by the regime to promote the mullahs’ ideology of hatred, misogyny, and fundamentalism
- MEK Resistance Units torched a large image of Khomeini in Isfahan, central Iran
- Brave youths using Molotov cocktails attacked a so-called “Khomeini Relief Center” in Bandar Anzali, northern Iran
- Brave youths attacked an IRGC paramilitary Basij base in Yazd, central Iran
- MEK Resistance Units torched billboards and large posters of Khomeini and Khamenei in the cities of Tehran, Eshtehard, Shiraz, Sari, Bukan, and Nourabad
UPDATE: 3:30 PM CET
Mohsen Rezaee Steps Down as Raisi’s Economic Deputy
According to Iranian state media, Mohsen Rezaee has stepped down from his position as the economic deputy in Ebrahim Raisi’s cabinet. On Monday morning, June 12, Ebrahim Raisi accepted Rezaee’s resignation and subsequently appointed him as the “Head of the Secretariat of the High Council for Economic Coordination of the Heads of three Branches”.
In the early days following the inauguration of Raisi’s government in the summer of 2021, Mohsen Rezaee was chosen by Ebrahim Raisi to serve as the “Economic Deputy of the Presidency”, “Secretary of the Supreme Council for Economic Coordination of the Heads of three Branches”, and “Secretary of the Economic Staff of the Government”.
The Supreme Economic Coordination Council, established in 2018 after the United States withdrew from the JCPOA, was created by a decree from the Supreme Leader of the Iranian regime, Ali Khamenei. Khamenei referred to this council as the “Economic War Room”. However, after four years since its formation, it has become evident that the council’s role extends beyond improving the country’s economic situation and instead interferes with economic matters alongside the parliament and the government.
Why Is Baghdad Funding Pro-Iran Militias?
Iraq is about to approve a budget that allocates $2.8 billion to the Shia militias known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), marking an increase of $600 million from the previous budget in 2021. The additional government money will allow PMUs – of which pro-Tehran Kataeb Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl Alhaq (also known as the Khazali Network), and the Al Ashtar Brigades are on the United States’ list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations – to nearly double their ranks from 122,000 to a staggering 238,000.
The increase in funding and personnel is inexplicable, given that the PMUs were formed to eradicate ISIS, which is now suppressed. With an annual deficit close to $50 billion, and with Baghdad raising taxes to make ends meet, it’s even more puzzling that Iraq is still funding a paramilitary force, whose budget equals 40 percent of the Iraqi Defense Ministry and whose size is bigger than regular armies of neighboring countries, such as Jordan and Kuwait.
UPDATE: 12:30 PM CET
Iran Seeking Sensitive Tech From Private Industry for Drone Program, Us Agencies Warn
Four federal agencies issued a joint warning to private industry regarding Iran’s efforts to circumvent sanctions to obtain sensitive technologies for its drone programs.
The Departments of Commerce, Justice, State, and Treasury issued the unclassified joint guidance on Friday to notify companies that Iran is relying on foreign sources for critical components used in its unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) that are covered by export controls and other sanctions. Iranian entities use shell companies and other methods to obscure the destination of such transactions and evade sanctions.
“Iran’s development, procurement, and proliferation of UAVs destabilize the Middle East region and beyond,” the agencies wrote. “Over the past ten years, Iran has increased its inventory of both armed and unarmed UAVs, whose low cost, simplicity of production, and ease of use make them appealing to entities and countries of concern to which Iran may transfer them.”
Four Casualties of Local Militias of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Near Ain Ali Shrine in Al-Mayadin
SOHR – Deir Ezzor province: Two Syrian members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were killed and two others were injured in an attack by unidentified people near Ain Ali Shrine in Al-Mayadin desert in Deir Ezzor countryside.
UPDATE: 7:30 AM CET
Iranian Diaspora Rallies in Support of Protesters Across Iran
As protests continue in Iran despite the regime’s expanding crackdown measures and a recent surge in executions since the start of May, members of the Iranian Diaspora have risen to the support of their compatriots inside the country by being their voice in cities checkered across the globe. These rallies are held in solidarity with the Iranian people’s revolution, in memory of the protesters killed by the regime’s ruthless armed forces, and in condemning the West’s ongoing appeasement vis-à-vis Tehran’s mullahs. People throughout Iran continue to specifically hold the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei responsible for their miseries, while also condemning the oppressive Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and paramilitary Basij units, alongside other security units that are on the ground suppressing the peaceful demonstrators.
Iran’s Regime Has Failed To Contain Public Outrage, Officials and Analysts Warn
The Iranian regime is currently facing a critical situation, and it appears inevitable that a new wave of protests will occur. The regime’s officials and media are working hard to prevent such protests by resorting to various measures. These include increasing the number of executions, engaging in mass and arbitrary arrests, suppressing dissent, and bolstering security and intelligence forces. Additionally, they employ propaganda tactics to promote soft solutions and create fake opposition groups, all in an attempt to hinder the country’s uprising. However, it is clear that the regime will ultimately fail to prevent the emergence of new protests. The reasons that initially led people to turn against the regime not only persist but have worsened over time.
Tehran’s Sale by the Tehran Municipality in 2023
According to documents published by Shargh newspaper, the Tehran Municipality has engaged in densification and auctioning of the capital city based on the “Article 5 Commission of Tehran City.” Shargh newspaper, in an article titled “Capital Auction,” has pointed to widespread plunder and city selling in expensive areas of Tehran on Thursday, 7th June 2023. The story goes that Shargh obtained a report from the Supreme Council of Urban Planning of the Iranian government, which reveals that the decisions of the “Article 5 Commission of Tehran City” in the past year have been implemented and executed by the Tehran Municipality without the approval of the Supreme Council of Urban Planning.
Zahra Mohammadi and Faezah Ebrahimi, Medical Students From Bushehr, Die in a Car Accident
Zahra Mohammadi, Faezeh Ebrahimi, Mohammad Reza Keshtkar, and Mohammad Haqqani, medical students from Bushehr, lost their lives in a car accident due to the failure of the airbags. On Thursday, June 8, 2023, on the Kazerun-Shiraz road, four medical students from Bushehr named Zahra Mohammadi, Faezah Ebrahimi, Mohammad Reza Keshtkar, and Mohammad Haqqani, who were in the final stages of their studies, died in a road accident. At the same time, Sassan Hosseinpoor, a nursing student from the same university, also lost his life near Dalaki.
Cologne and Hamburg—June 10, 2023: MEK Supporters Held Rallies and Exhibitions in Support of the Iran Revolution
Cologne and Hamburg—June 10, 2023: Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held rallies and photo exhibitions of the Iranian uprising martyrs in solidarity with the Iran Revolution.
Aarhus, Denmark—June 10, 2023: MEK Supporters Held a Rally in Support of the Iran Revolution
Aarhus, Denmark—June 10, 2023: Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held a rally in solidarity with the Iran Revolution. MEK supporters in Aarhus condemned the wave of brutal executions in Iran by the religious dictatorship.
Also, read Iran News in Brief – June 11, 2023
