Terrified of the annual Fire Festivities turning into popular protests, the mullahs’ regime in Iran has resorted to increasing crackdown measures and widespread arrests in numerous parts of the country.
Each day a growing number of store owners selling firecrackers are being arrested and their property confiscated. These measures are seen in the provinces of Tehran, Central, Isfahan, Fars, Gilan, Mazandaran, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, West and East Azeriban, North Khorasan, Zanjan, Urmia, Ilam, Semnan, Chahar Mahal & Bakhtiary, Sistan & Baluchistan, Hamaedan and …
In the meantime regime authorities in schools across the country have launched a ridiculous campaign titled “No to Fire Festivities”, forcing students to sign a petition pledging to not play with firecrackers during these celebrations. This measure is aimed at inflicting fear amongst the students and prevent them from taking part in these traditional and national ceremonies. Each year these celebrations are scenes of people, expressing the young, expressing their hatred of the mullahs’ regime.
“The last Tuesday night of the (Iranian calendar) year and the New Year are amongst the missions that must be pursued with the utmost seriousness,” said Iran police chief Hossein Ashtari.
“We will not allow those disrupting the norms, hoodlums and gangs to roam free,” the semi-official ISNA news agency reported citing Ashtari referring to protesting youth.
“A working group in the Supreme National Security Council has been established for destructive individuals to be controlled beforehand. We will face problems if we don’t take action… action is needed,” the semi-official Fars news agency, affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards, quoted Ashtari on February 25.
Sajedi Nia, commander of the Greater Tehran police banned all “Fire Festivity celebrations in main avenues” and reported police will be deployed in Tehran’s main roads, along with “visible and non-visible police across the city.”
“The police will take action against those disrupting the norms… and they will most certainly remain in detention until the end of the holidays,” official media outlets cited him on March 5 and 6.
“Those who seek to disrupt the society’s secure atmosphere must know the necessary predictions have been made and all coordination arranged with the judiciary,” the official IRNA news agency reported citing Iranian Deputy Interior Minister Zolfaqari saying on March 5.
The Headquarters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) inside Iran issued a statement calling on all Iranians, especially the young, to protest and stage uprisings for freedom during this year’s Fire Festivities, under the banner of ‘Death to the Mullahs’ Regime Principle’. The statement reads:
“On the verge of the farce presidential elections, the mullahs’ regime and its disrupted factions are engulfed in a power struggle, and facing increasing hatred and anger from the population. Therefore, we must defeat the mullahs’ campaign of fear and terror through perseverance, solidarity and group efforts.”
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
March 6, 2017