THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 9:00 PM
Saturday Protests in Iran
In Tehran, retired government employees converged outside the Ministry of Education, voicing their dissatisfaction with meager pensions and the government’s failure to address their financial needs adequately. The retirees, facing economic hardships, demand immediate action to improve their living standards.
March 9—Tehran, #Iran
Retired government employees rally in front of the Ministry of Education to protest low pensions and authorities refraining from addressing their needs.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/UtgK7Qj9oG— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 9, 2024
Meanwhile, in Asaluyeh, southern Iran, contract workers at the South Pars Gas Refinery continue their strikes and protests. Their grievances center around working conditions and fair treatment, as they demand better pay and rights in the workplace.
Similar sentiments resonate in Shiraz, where nurses from various hospitals have initiated protests and gone on strike. Frustrated by stagnant wages and deteriorating work conditions, they urge regime authorities to prioritize their demands for better pay and improved standards in healthcare facilities.
March 9—Shush, southwest #Iran
Fifth day of protests rallies by official and contract workers of the Water and Wastewater Organization who have not received their wages for several months. #IranProtests pic.twitter.com/WApMD2wUBY— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 9, 2024
In Mahshahr, southwest Iran, workers in the petrochemical sector enter their second day of strikes and protests. With four months of unpaid wages and insurance premiums unpaid since November, these workers demand urgent attention to their financial plight.
In Shush, also in southwest Iran, official and contract workers of the Water and Wastewater Organization continue their fifth day of protests. Struggling with months of unpaid wages, they call for an immediate resolution to their financial crisis.
Meanwhile, in Zabol, southeast Iran, diesel car owners gather outside the governorate to protest the non-receipt of fuel rations and the failure to recharge their fuel cards. Their frustrations underscore broader economic challenges facing citizens across the country.
March 9—Zabol, southeast #Iran
Diesel car owners rally in front of the governorate to protest not receiving their fuel rations and their fuel cards not being recharged. #IranProtestspic.twitter.com/GTE2uRI4AI— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 9, 2024
The widespread unrest reflects deep-seated grievances among Iranians regarding economic hardships, labor rights, and government accountability. As tensions escalate, authorities face mounting pressure to address the concerns of various sectors of society and restore stability amidst growing discontent.
E3 Issue Joint Statement on Iranian Regime’s Nuclear Program Amid IAEA Meeting
At the same time as the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom released a joint statement regarding the regime’s nuclear program.
The E3 statement read, “Regrettably, the IAEA’s report again confirms that Iran continues on its escalatory path, in increasing violation of its JCPoA commitments. Over the past five years, Iran has pushed its nuclear activities to new heights that are unprecedented for a state without a nuclear weapons programme. Iran continues to refuse to reverse the de-designation of Agency inspectors and is failing to implement the Joint Statement of 4 March 2023. These actions cast reasonable doubt on Iran’s willingness to fully live up to its obligation and commitment to cooperate with the IAEA. This is shown by the IAEA not being able to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme.”
UPDATE: 1:00 PM
US-led Coalition Shoots Down 15 Yemen Rebel Drones: CENTCOM
DUBAI: US and allied forces shot down 15 one-way attack drones fired by Iran-backed Yemeni rebels into the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the US military said on Saturday.
It was one of the Houthis’ largest attacks since they began in November a campaign of drone and missile strikes against ships in the Red Sea area, vital for world trade, in professed solidarity with Palestinians during Israel’s war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
The US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said the “large-scale” Houthi attack occurred before dawn into the Red Sea and adjacent Gulf of Aden.
Canada Imposes New Sanctions Against Two Individuals for Their Participation in Violent Repression of Iranian Women and Girls
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that Canada is imposing new sanctions under the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations. This is the 17th package of sanctions imposed by Canada against Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini in October 2022. Today’s sanctions are being imposed in response to the Iranian regime’s ongoing gross and systematic human rights violations, particularly against women and girls, and continued actions to destabilize regional peace and security.
These new measures apply to two individuals for their participation in the violent repression of Iranian citizens, targeting in particular women and girls. The Chief Executive of the Tehran metro system, Masoud Dorosti, is listed for his enforcement of the mandatory hijab law on public transit.
Senior Advisor to Khamenei Calls for Strategic Depth Expansion and Meddling in The Region
In a recent statement issued on March 6, Yahya Rahim-Safavi, a former Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a senior advisor to the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei underscored the necessity for strategic expansion.
Addressing a meeting at the Imam Hossein University on March 6, Rahim-Safavi said, “The esteemed Imam [Ruhollah Khomeini] led us to victory, turned the war [with Iraq] into victory, opened the path to Karbala with the blood of the martyrs. The esteemed leadership [Ali Khamenei] empowered the Resistance Front over these 34 years. The Aerospace Force, the Navy, and the Ground Force of the Revolutionary Guards backed up the Resistance. From Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, you see what the Yemenis are doing. We have no choice but to extend the depth of our national defense and security. Our strategic defense depth lies in the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. We must extend our strategic defense depth to five thousand kilometers from Iran.”
In response to Safavi’s remarks and fearing social and international backlash, Mohammad-Hossein Karimipour, the former head of the Agricultural Commission of the regime’s parliament, expressed his concerns via his X (formerly Twitter) account.
Karimipour wrote, “When your people become poorer and angrier day by day, when corruption and inefficiency prevail, suddenly you realize that your strategic depth has diminished to zero! You end up like Gaddafi in the sewer!”
سردار صفوی معتقدست باید عمق استراتژیک ج ا تا ۵ هزار کیلومتر افزایش یابد.
وقتی ملتت روز بروز فقیرتر وخشمگین تر می شود، وقتی در خارج و داخل با همه گلاویزی، وقتی فساد و ناکارآمدی بیداد می کند، یک هُو چشم باز میکنی و می بینی عمق استراتژیکت صفر شده! می شوی قذافی در مجرایِ فاضلاب!🫤— محمّد حسين كريمی پور (@M_H_Karimipour) March 6, 2024
UPDATE: 9:30 AM
Suspected Terrorists Who Planned To Kidnap Israeli Businessman Captured
During a police operation, the National Police’s Counter-Terrorism Directorate (Dircote) successfully thwarted a terrorist attack plan targeting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit being hosted by Peru.
Yesterday afternoon, Dircote agents apprehended Majid Azizi, an Iranian citizen, who was observed withdrawing money from a branch of the Interbank located in Plaza de Armas, at the heart of Lima. According to police investigations, Azizi intended to execute an attack during the APEC forum with the assistance of two Peruvian citizens, Walter Fernández Fukunoto and Felipe Trucios León.
Currently, Trucios León remains at large and is deemed a dangerous fugitive. Authorities are intensifying efforts to locate him and ensure he faces justice.
UPDATE: 7:30 AM
PMOI Resistance Units Across Iran Mark International Women’s Day
On the eve of March 8, celebrated globally as International Women’s Day, the Resistance Units, the network of activists supporting the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), held activities across the country to mark the courage and the leading role of women in the struggle for freedom in Iran. Defying the Iranian regime’s repressive measures, the Resistance Units posted images of Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), with messages that underline the immense role that Iran’s women are playing in the fight against the tyrannical regime of the mullahs.
Maryam Rajavi, in her repeated messages, emphasized that the mullahs’ regime, which adopts misogynistic and regressive stances, has made Iranian women its main and most feared enemy.
Iran’s Nuclear Program Faces Heightened Tensions and Looming Deadlines
Given the ongoing periodic meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it appears that the Iranian regime has taken preemptive measures to forestall the issuance of a resolution and referral of its case to the Security Council. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an agreement reached in 2015 between the Iranian regime and world powers, aimed to impose restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program while lifting economic sanctions against the regime. Notably, a significant provision of the JCPOA was the removal of Iran’s arms and missile restrictions in October 2023.
However, the withdrawal of the United States from the JCPOA in 2018 and the failure to reach an agreement with the Biden administration to revive it have cast doubt on achieving the JCPOA goals by 2025. Without an agreement, there is a possibility that world powers may invoke the trigger mechanism, leading to the reinstatement of previous Security Council resolutions against the Iranian regime.
Women of Iranian Resistance Have Held Crucial Roles for Three Decades
Speech of Ms. Sarvnaz Chitsaz, Chair of the NCRI Women’s Committee: “Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen. It is my distinct honor to welcome you to our annual International Women’s Day Conference. I am delighted that we have gathered today from corners far and wide, united by a shared vision for a future filled with equality and devoid of discrimination. This is the secret of our sisterly bond.
“International Women’s Day serves not only as a celebration of the milestone achieved by the women’s movement but also as a reminder of a journey that lies ahead and the goals yet to be attained. Let me extend my heartfelt greetings to the brave Iranian women and girls who during the uprising of 2022 courageously confronted the oppressive forces of Khamenei, shining a light on the flagrant actions of a misogynistic regime.”
CENTCOM Chief Warns That Iran Has Put Middle East Into “Convergence of Crises”
The senior commander of the Central Command of the United States, during a session of the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. Senate, stated the key to deterrence is “Tehran has to understand there are consequences” but “deterrence is temporary.”
“Iran has thrown the Middle East into “a convergence of crises” with its military support of Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen,” Army Gen. Michael Kurilla told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday adding the Middle East is in the most volatile situation in 50 years.
Kurilla said: “In the Middle East, to help finance these militia operations, Iran is selling 90 percent of its oil to China.”
Paris, France—March 7-8, 2024: MEK Supporters Exhibition in Support of the Iranian Revolution
Paris, France—March 7-8, 2024: Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) organized an exhibition in solidarity with the Iranian Revolution.
