THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 9:00 PM CET
Iran Uprising at a Glance – Day 190
Based partially on reporting by PMOI (MEK) Network in Iran
Friday, March 24, 2023 – 8 PM GMT + 1
- Days: 190
- Protests: 282 cities
- Fatalities: 750+ estimated deaths, 672 identified by MEK
- Detentions: 30,000
March 24 – Zahedan, southeast #Iran
In their demonstration today protesters were carrying placards reading: "No to monarchy! No to [mullahs' regime]! Democracy and equality!"#No2ShahNo2Mullahs #IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/7s47RVCvP3— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 24, 2023
As Friday marked the 190th day of Iran’s nationwide uprising, people in various cities across the country held rallies, gatherings, and demonstrations, and used other methods to voice their grievances. The people of Sistan and Baluchistan Province also launched new protests today.
March 24 – Zahedan, southeast #Iran
Protesters are chanting:
"This is the last message: the entire [regime] is our target!"#IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/fPKK8GloKk— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 24, 2023
People in the city of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchistan Province were in the streets again this Friday launching their latest anti-regime protests following their Friday prayers. Reports indicated a large crowd of locals holding a major demonstration and chanting slogans against the mullahs’ regime and their apparatus of oppressive forces. This was for the 25th consecutive Friday that these brave locals held protest rallies and demonstrations against the regime.
Their slogans included:
“Down with Khamenei!”
“Khamenei is a murderer! His rule is illegitimate!”
“Monarchy – [mullahs’ regime]! 100 years of crimes!”
“Down with the oppressor! Be it the Shah or [Khamenei]!”
“My martyred brother, I will avenge your blood!”
“Death to the IRGC!”
“Death to the Basij!”
“This is the last message: the entire [regime] is our target!”
“Mullahs must get lost!”
“I will kill those who killed my brother!”
“We may die but we won’t live in shame!”
March 24 – Kerman, south-central #Iran
Protesters torched a large billboard of former IRGC Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani.#IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/1WfUzQkLDx— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 24, 2023
In their demonstration, today protesters were carrying placards reading: “No to monarchy! No to [mullahs’ regime]! Yes to Democracy and equality!”
Early Friday morning local time, protesters in the city of Kerman in south-central Iran torched a large billboard of the eliminated IRGC Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani. This is yet another reminder that in stark contrast to the regime’s claims and propaganda, the Iranian people utterly despise and loath Soleimani and the entirety of the IRGC.
March 24 – Zahedan, southeast #Iran
Protesters are in the streets chanting:
"Mullahs must get lost!"#IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/EAf7qiUzyc— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 24, 2023
Retirees and pensioners of the regime’s Social Security Organization began protesting and voicing their economic woes during a visit to a local religious site by regime Vice President Mohammad Mokhber on Thursday.
In the country’s capital, last night till the early hours of today locals of the Narmak district were chanting anti-regime slogans. The slogans included:
“Down with Khamenei!”
“Down with the dictator!”
“Down with the child-killing regime!”
I salute the people of #Zahedan who started the New Year with chants of “Death to Khamenei.”
Thousands of our fellow Baluch compatriots took to the streets on the first Friday of the Persian New Year 1402, chanting, “freedom for #Iran,” and “death to the oppressor, be it the shah… pic.twitter.com/S2BcJewBsQ— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) March 24, 2023
And finally today the Iranian opposition coalition NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi said: I salute the people of Zahedan who started the New Year with chants of “Death to Khamenei.” Thousands of our fellow Baluch compatriots took to the streets on the first Friday of the Persian New Year 1402, chanting, “freedom for Iran,” and “death to the oppressor, be it the shah or the (mullahs’ supreme) leader.” They once again demonstrated their firm resolve to a free Iran.
Us Launches Airstrikes in Syria After Drone Kills US Worker
BEIRUT (AP) — A strike Thursday by a suspected Iranian-made drone killed a U.S. contractor and wounded six other Americans in northeast Syria, and U.S. forces retaliated with airstrikes on sites in Syria used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, the Pentagon said. Activists said the U.S. bombing killed at least four people.
While it’s not the first time the U.S. and Iran have traded strikes in Syria, the attack and the U.S. response threaten to upend recent efforts to deescalate tensions across the wider Middle East, whose rival powers have made steps toward détente in recent days after years of turmoil.
UPDATE: 10:00 AM CET
JCPOA Is Like an Empty Shell – IAEA Chief
In a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations on March 22, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi discussed IAEA efforts to address the nuclear safety and security situation in Ukraine, as well as the main proliferation challenges worldwide, including concerns surrounding the Iranian regime’s nuclear program.
“When it comes to the Iran situation, it’s something that we see as, like, a permanent feature in your international agenda catalog,” Mr. Grossi said. “If you have to look at one, anybody coming to power in Washington or whatever, whichever country, well, you have this in the—in the top list of to-dos or problems that need to be solved.”
He added: “This Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—which was agreed whereby Iran would limit its nuclear activities in a quid pro quo that would suppose economic incentives, investments, and so on and so forth. This story, a relatively positive chapter, lasted for four years, more or less, until there was a withdrawal. The United States decided to withdraw and Iran started to—in sort of a tit for tat, started to stop compliance. And today, this agreement is like an empty shell in reality.”
UPDATE: 8:00 AM CET
Iran’s New Calendar Year Begins With Continued Protests
Iran’s nationwide uprising is witnessing its 189th day of anti-regime protests by people from all walks of life, including even retirees and pensioners who seek to make ends meet and the mullahs’ dictatorship is depriving them of their basic necessities. Iran’s economy is in ruins as the national currency has nosedived due to the regime’s destructive and corrupt economic policies. An increasing number of regime officials are voicing concerns about these economic woes erupting into more protests and a new surge in the country’s uprising.
Social Catastrophe: Over 20,000 Girls Under 15 Married in Iran in Latest Data Release
The Iranian National Statistics Center (NSC) announced that 20,648 girls under 15 years of age were married in Iran in the 9 months from Spring to Autumn 2022. In the same period, 1,085 infants were born to under-15 mothers. The data presented by the Iranian government agencies are not transparent.
The last time the NSC published figures on child marriages was in the spring of 2021, when it announced 9,753 girls under 15 had married in Spring 2021. But there are no statistics available for the entire year. And now, the statistics for 2022 are announced for 9 months together.
Iran-linked Incidents Spurred Cyber Command To Send ‘Hunt Forward’ Team to Albania
The U.S. military sent a team of cyber operators to Albania last year to help defend government networks there after a pair of digital attacks that were blamed on Iran.
The Cyber National Mission Force (CNMF) deployed a team of two dozen personnel on a “hunt forward” operation following the second hack, which took place in September and returned before the end of 2022. A CNMF spokesperson declined to comment on the specific number, or kinds of networks, that were examined.
Risch, Colleagues Encourage EU to Designate IRGC as Terrorist Organization
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, recently led Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Todd Young (R-Ind.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) in a letter to European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell encouraging the EU to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization.
“We write to express our disappointment in the European Union’s (EU) hesitation to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran as an addition to the EU Terror List,” wrote the senators. “Amidst the IRGC’s ongoing support of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, EU reluctance both weakens our collective resolve against Russia and ignores the Iranian government’s goal of sowing terror in the West.”
The U.S. designated the #IRGC as a foreign terrorist org and has since been able to severely limit the group's access U.S. markets. I encourage our #EU friends to do the same and cut off sources of IRGC income. https://t.co/6SxPhrMF08
— Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member (@SenateForeign) March 23, 2023
The Biden Administration should encourage our friends in the U.K. to label Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps what it is—a terrorist entity.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) March 23, 2023
Pentagon Has ‘Multiple Options’ Ready if Iran Builds Nuclear Bomb, Top U.S. General Says
The Pentagon has developed multiple military options ready for President Biden if, or when, Iran begins to build nuclear weapons, America’s top general told Congress Thursday. The comments from Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, underscored the gravity of the situation with respect to Iran‘s nuclear program, which is racing forward after the Biden administration failed to revive the 2015 deal with Tehran designed to limit that program. Since the diplomatic push was largely abandoned last fall, Tehran has made stunning strides with its nuclear efforts and analysts say the regime is now just months away from producing a bomb if it chooses.
Young, Colleagues Encourage EU To Designate IRGC as Terrorist Organization
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) sent a letter to European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell encouraging the EU to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization.
“We write to express our disappointment in the European Union’s (EU) hesitation to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran as an addition to the EU Terror List,” wrote the senators. “Amidst the IRGC’s ongoing support of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, EU reluctance both weakens our collective resolve against Russia and ignores the Iranian government’s goal of sowing terror in the West.”
Joined @SenateForeign on a letter to the European Union urging the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
The IRGC is leading Iran's aggression in the Middle East and contributing to Putin's war in Ukraine. The EU cannot ignore these crimes.https://t.co/TVRK4pD9Sc
— Senator Todd Young (@SenToddYoung) March 23, 2023
Iran’s IRGC is the definition of a terrorist group. They are an immediate threat to our way of life and freedom around the world.
Along with my Senate colleagues, I will continue to press our European partners to designate IRGC as the terror organization they are. https://t.co/tgmmWXk6Ws
— Senator Pete Ricketts (@SenatorRicketts) March 23, 2023
Yellen: Iran’s Actions Not Impacted by Sanctions to the Extent Us Would Like
WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) – Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday the United States was looking at ways to strengthen its sanctions against Iran, but acknowledged the sanctions had not resulted in the behavioral or policy changes Washington desires from Tehran.
“Our sanctions on Iran have created real economic crisis in the country, and Iran is greatly suffering economically because of the sanctions … Has that forced a change in behavior? The answer is much less than we would ideally like,” Yellen told lawmakers in a hearing on Thursday.
Also, read Iran News in Brief – March 23, 2023
