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Iran News in Brief – February 19, 2023

Sedighe Shahrokhi

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THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS

UPDATE: 8:30 PM CET

Iran Uprising at a Glance – Day 157

Based partially on reporting by PMOI (MEK) Network in Iran

Sunday, February 19, 2023 – 8 PM GMT + 1

Iran’s nationwide uprising marked its 157th day, today, as people in different Iranian cities continued to express their opposition to the regime and calling for its overthrow, and protesting their terrible living conditions.

Today, people in the capital’s Jannat Abad district chanted: “Death to the dictator!”

Retirees and pensioners in the cities of Kermanshah, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Shushtar, Rasht, Kerman, Bandar Abbas, and Shush rallied and protested low pensions, poor insurance plans, and sought adjustments based on skyrocketing prices and increasing inflation.

In Tehran, family members of death row inmates rallied again today outside the regime’s judiciary building, protesting the death sentences and demanding answers from regime officials. There have been many such rallies held by family members of inmates, who travel from across the country to hold these gatherings in Tehran, where children have been seen holding placards reading: “Don’t execute my dad!”

Bakery owners in the country’s capital protested on Sunday regarding the regime officials’ refusal to respond to their outstanding demands as living conditions continue to deteriorate.

In Yasuj, southwest Iran, municipality workers rallied outside the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmed Province governor’s office and demanded their paychecks that have been delayed for the past eight months.

On Sunday, workers of a local train manufacturing company in Ahvaz, southwest Iran, voiced their anger over not receiving their paychecks for the past 18 months.

Local teachers in Tabriz, northwest Iran, were also protesting regime officials’ refusal to respond to their outstanding demands regarding their extremely poor living conditions.

Today in Yazd, central Iran, workers of the local Yazdbaf textile company, the largest of its kind in the Middle East, protested against their low/delayed paychecks and poor living conditions.

Thousands of People in Western Iran Trapped in Snow

Unprecedented and heavy snowfall in Kuhrang county, lack of rescue equipment, closed roads, and the incompetence of the authorities have turned a natural occurrence into an emerging disaster.

The state-run Tasnim news agency reported: “Snowfall has caused many villages to be cut off and rural homes to be destroyed; the snow height in urban areas of Kuhrang has reached up to three and a half meters, and up to six meters in mountainous and rural areas. Communication routes for 100 villages in the region have been cut off from the county center, and rural people are trapped in their homes.”

According to the governor of Kuhrang county, 200 villages in this county are under snow.

Azeri President Blames Iran’s ‘Establishment’ for Embassy Attack

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said the “Iranian establishment” was behind an armed attack on his country’s embassy in Tehran last month in which a security officer was killed and two others wounded.

In his first direct criticism of the authorities in Tehran over the incident, Aliyev said the failure of police to act immediately to stop the gunman and the fact that state TV interviewed the assailant shortly after he was detained indicated he was “sent by some branches of the Iranian establishment.”

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UPDATE: 3:30 PM CET

Oped: The Mullahs Robbed Iran Of Music, But Soon It Will Return

For a brief time in 1979, a sense of optimism pervaded Iranian society. The Shah’s corrupt dictatorship was officially deposed on Feb. 11 and many of those who had contributed to the revolution believed that the end of his tyranny would lead inexorably to a democratic system and self-governance for the Iranian people.

But instead, Ruhollah Khomeini promptly took advantage of decades of repression against democratic opposition to establish himself as Supreme Leader within a system that guaranteed absolute power to the clerics.

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Oped: Iranians Deserve Better than the Shah’s Son

When it comes to making historic mistakes, history has a nasty way of repeating itself. Last weekend at the Munich Security Conference, one of the world’s most important gatherings to discuss peace and international security, a historic mistake was made and a missed opportunity.

It was attended by more than 45 heads of state and government and nearly 100 ministers from around the world. Notable for their absence this year were official delegations from both Russia and Iran, excluded from the invitation list because of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine and the clerical regime’s savage crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran. In their place, the new chair of the conference, the German diplomat Christoph Heusgen invited “opposition figures” from these respective countries. Sadly, Reza Pahlavi was the figure supposedly representing the official opposition to the mullahs’ tyrannical regime.

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UPDATE: 9:30 AM CET

State-affiliated Economist Warns of Looming Danger at Any Moment

Mohsen Renani, a state-affiliated economist and university professor, has written an article titled “Collapse” in which he states that the Iranian regime has gone through the “first three stages” of the “collapse occurrence” and it is unclear to what extent it can prevent the final stage of collapse with what he called “resistance, violence, and crackdown on society”.

Renani published the article on his website on Friday, February 17. He wrote that he had initially sent the text, which was written two months ago, to former FM Javad Zarif to convey it to the Supreme Leader, but after Zarif’s failure to deliver the message to Ali Khamenei, he decided to make it public.

Renani wrote: “Whether Iran moves towards the model of Chile and South Africa or towards the ones of Libya and Syria, depends primarily on the behavior of the government and then on the behavior of the society.”

He emphasized that the opportunity for “reforms from above” has been lost, but the possibility of a “revolution from above” still exists.

This university professor also explained: “The prerequisite for the success of reforms from above is the credibility of the political system, and now the political system has lost its credibility in the minds of a large part of the society.”

Warning the most senior state officials, he said: “You must know that even if you try to psychologically discourage this generation with harsh suppression methods, this generation has reached a stage of hope and can create new hopeful horizons at any moment.”

Judiciary Official Acknowledges the Extent of the Nationwide Iran Uprising

In an unprecedented admission, Kazem Gharibabadi, the International Vice-President of the Iranian regime’s Judiciary, acknowledged the extent of Iran’s nationwide uprising, describing it as a “planned riot and a combined war.”

According to the state-run Entekhab website, he stated that “during the riots, more than 3,000 motorcycles and buildings were destroyed. Additionally, over 7,000 law enforcement officers were injured, and 70 enforcement officers were killed. Furthermore, more than 80 people were arrested during the riots, and over 8,000 knives and firearms were confiscated from the rioters.”

However, the actual number of arrestees is believed to be over 30,000, and according to the Iranian opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), over 750 protesters have been killed by the regime’s security forces.

Iran Uprising Gains Momentum With New Protests, Munich Rally

Protesters in various parts of Iran’s Sistan & Baluchistan and Kurdistan provinces took to the streets in new rallies on Friday, protesting the regime’s crackdown measures and voicing their demands for a democratic republic.

Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the Iranian opposition coalition NCRI, with its cornerstone member the PMOI/MEK, rallied in Munich on Friday and continued their demonstration on Saturday in solidarity with Iran revolution protests and to relay the Iranian people’s opposition to any form of dictatorship. The thousands of MEK supporters also voiced their support for NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi’s ten-point plan for the future of Iran and emphasized on the Iranian people’s opposition to a return to a monarchical rule.

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Political Prisoner Yalda Emamdoust Languishes in Jail

Political prisoner Yalda Emamdoust, a marathon runner and champion in Isfahan, has been imprisoned in Dowlat Abad prison for four years and is under torture and excruciating pressure. The agents of the Intelligence Ministry have used Mrs. Emamdoust’s husband, a member of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), as a lever of pressure and torture against her.

Yalda Emamdoust, a marathon runner and champion in Isfahan, has suffered from skin and nervous diseases due to psychological pressure and endures difficult conditions.

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Also, read Iran News in Brief – February 18, 2023

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