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Iran News in Brief – January 2, 2023

Sedighe Shahrokhi

iran-javanrud-zahedan-uprising

THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS

UPDATE: 8:00 PM CET

Iran Uprising at a Glance – Day 109

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

Monday, January 2, 2022 – 8 PM GMT+1

Iran’s nationwide uprising marked its 109th day on Monday with protests continuing in different cities across the country. These protesters held gatherings, rallies, strikes, and established roadblocks on roads to take control of the streets and prevent regime authorities from dispatching their security forces to quell the movement.

Protesters and courageous locals have also been using Molotov cocktails and homemade explosives to target the regime’s sites, along with statues and billboards symbolizing the mullahs’ authoritarian dictatorship.  They are specifically targeting regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his entire apparatus of oppressive forces.

On Monday, in the restive city of Javanrud in Kermanshah Province, western Iran, the authorities dispatched many security units to the streets following the recent unrest. Internet connection is heavily disrupted.

In the city of Mahabad, northwest Iran, locals gathered to mark the 40th day of Shomal Khadiripour’s murder by the regime’s security forces and began chanting: “Death to Khamenei!”, “So many years of crimes! Death to the mullahs’ regime!”, “Kurds and Baluchis are brothers!” in solidarity with the Baluch of Sistan & Baluchestan Province, and “Down with the principle of Velayat-e Faqih (absolute rule of the clergy)!”

The crowd continued their ceremony by heading into the town from the cemetery and launching a protest march against the regime. The authorities have dispatched a large number of security forces to the city to prevent further anti-regime protests.

In Ardabil, northwest Iran locals torched a large poster of former IRGC Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani.

And finally, Khamenei’s criminal judiciary sentenced 18-year-old Mehdi Mohammadi Fard one of those arrested in the uprising in the city of  Nowshahr northern Iran  to death twice on the charges of “moharebeh (waging war on God)” “inciting the people with the intention of disrupting the security of the country” and “insulting Khamenei”.

UPDATE: 4:00 PM CET

Political Prisoners Are Not Caving in, Cleric Warns

The steadfastness and perseverance of the rebellious youth who were arrested during the uprising have become alarming for some state officials and they warn their peers of the grave social consequences should the regime refuse to heed the public anger.

Responding to the IRGC spokesperson Ramezan Sharif who claimed on December 28, 2022, that “the internet has become a tool of the enemy, preventing us to confront reality”, a state-affiliated cleric lashed out and blamed the regime for the misery and the nation’s uprising against it.

In a column in the state-run Ensaf News, Ahmad Heydari wrote: “Gentlemen, do you really believe these unconsolidated and baseless words?”

Rejecting Sharif’s claims that the “regime’s scholars could better educate and nurture the youth”, Heydari wrote: “If the masters of the word would have so much influence so they could introduce the deceived youth to the amazing achievements of our state within half an hour and urge them to confess and express their remorse, then why wouldn’t you lecture them before you had to arrest and imprison them so that they would stop coming to the streets and protest and disturb things? Despite having dozens of dedicated television channels and thousands of Friday prayer sermons and representatives of religious leaders in all corners of the country, you were not able of the latter.”

“Why do you condemn and sentence these people of being deceived and charge them as ‘Mohareb’ (those who wage war against God) and rebel?” he added. “After serving their time in prison, why do these people not only not change but rather become more steadfast in their former standings?”

Heydari warned: “It is strange, dangerous, and alarming that these days, we hear from the judicial and security authorities that a group of people is still standing firm on their stances of opposition and protest and they are not willing to cave in even while in captivity!”

UPDATE: 2:00 PM CET

Frightened for His Own Fate, MP Resigns

According to the semi-official ISNA news agency, a member of the regime’s parliament announced his resignation.

According to ISNA, in a public meeting on Sunday, Elias Nadran submitted a note to the Speaker of the parliament that read: “I have submitted my resignation to the Presidency. I request you to read it.”

“According to the internal rules of the parliament, the presiding committee must read the resignation request and is not allowed to comment,” he had added in his note.

Formerly a commander at the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guards, Elias Naderan has been serving this regime for more than four decades and as the popular rage during the uprising is claiming unprecedented low morale and all-time low defections, he is abandoning a sinking ship.

Former Allies Refuse to Help the Regime, Former Official Admits

A former official at the regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs admitted that because the Iranian regime has been put on the money laundering blacklist of the Special Financial Action Task Force (FATF) the regime is witnessing a lack of banking and financial cooperation with other countries

On January 1, in an interview with the online newspaper Faraz, Gholamreza Ansari, the former deputy of economic diplomacy of the Foreign Ministry said: “Not only Banks in China, but we also even faced problems in cooperation with banks in Afghanistan. During the previous government of Afghanistan, their banks refused to cooperate with Iran arguing that we are not a member of the FATF. All the authorities of the country were aware of this issue.”

He added: “In any case, in global equations, China is a powerful country that tries to move with great caution in the global monetary markets, but countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan, which have nothing to say in this regard, are also unwilling to cooperate. Pakistan is a country that was on FATF’s gray list for many years. But after leaving the gray list, this country was not willing to cooperate with Iran in the banking sector anymore.”

UPDATE: 8:30 AM CET

Iran Enters 2023 With People Relentlessly Continuing Their Revolution Campaign

The year 2023 is beginning with Iran witnessing ongoing turmoil as the conflict between the Iranian people seeking to live in freedom and democracy and the ruling mullahs’ regime continues. Brave Iranians in various cities are constantly taking to the streets in their anti-regime protests while chanting slogans against the very top of the mullahs’ echelons. They’re specifically targeting regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his entire apparatus of oppressive forces.

Read more

Two Years in Jail for Sepideh Salarvand, an Anthropologist, Writer, and Children’s Rights Activist

The Judiciary of the mullahs’ regime and its security institutions continue to file cases and issue prison sentences and inhumane punishments for the protestors of the Iran uprising. The Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Sepideh Salarvand, an anthropologist, writer, and child rights activist, to two years of imprisonment, two years of ban on leaving the country, a ban on membership in social and political groups, and preparation of 80-page research on issues of love for the homeland and condemnation of treason.

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Semirom City Raided by Iran’s Forces

On Thursday, December 29, 2022, in Semirom, Isfahan Province, people attended funeral ceremonies. They had participated in large scales to commemorate Ali Abbasi who was killed by Iran’s security forces during protests on November 2022.

On the next day, Iran’s security forces tore down photos and posters of Semirom’s slain protesters. This event provoked outrage among the people. On Saturday, December 31, 2022, demonstrators gathered in front of the city’s governorate.

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Amsterdam: On the Eve of New Year 2023, Iranian Resistance Supporters Expressed Solidarity With the Iran Revolution

Amsterdam, the Netherlands—December 30, 2022: on the eve of New Year 2023, freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held a rally to commemorate the martyrs of the nationwide Iranian Revolution.

Read more

Also, read Iran News in Brief – January 1, 2023

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