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IRAN ROUNDUP for January 13th thru 17th: ‘Khamenei Is Panicked” – Protests Continue Across Country – Regime Continues to Brutalize Iranians, As US Democrats Turn their Backs on Them

Posted on 17 January 2020

By Editors of The Free Iran Herald 

Updates on events unfolding in Iran

Since Tuesday, when the House Democrats blocked the vote on a resolution to support anti-regime protesters in Iran, Iranians have taken to Twitter to show their frustration and irritation.

Even worse, Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attempted to dismiss the protests by saying that the demonstrators were only “students” angry about their friends who had died in the plane crash. Iranian activists responded to this shameful lie by launching a Twitter campaign called #NancyPelosiFakeNews

In response to the bombastic Al-Jazeera presenter Mehdi Hassan’s bizarre Twitter rant about the president’s racism and bigotry, one Iranian activist wrote: 

 


The most recent episode of nationwide protests across Iran, that began on Saturday in response to the regime’s admission that its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had shot down a civilian international airliner, continued into this week. The IRGC, and its Basij paramilitary, ferociously attacked the mass manifestations of the Iranian populace, as is their custom, and many examples of brutal violations of human rights were recorded and posted online.

Monday, January 13th, saw demonstrations continuing in multiple Iranian cities. Here, students at Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology repeated their chant of “They killed our geniuses and replaced them with clerics!”

In other spots, the people confronted the regime forces sent out to disperse them and clashes erupted.

In Dezful, in the south-western province of Khuzestan, crowds went on the offensive and stormed a Basij base, while in the northern city of Semnan, people, led by women, burned down the office of supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s local representative.

 

Tuesday, January 14th, brought more protests. Students at Tehran University began to demonstrate, and masses of ordinary citizens joined them, into the evening. The IRGC responded heavily, and scenes of Guardsmen beating people were recorded, before the regime cut off Internet and mobile phone access. Universities were raided, and intense gunfire was heard around Tehran.

Protests went on despite the heavy crackdown. Wednesday, in Esfahan, the funeral of some of the victims who died when the Ukrainian airliner was brought down erupted into an anti-regime protest. Tehran University students, meanwhile, held a sit-down strike on Thursday to protest in support of their colleagues who were arrested and detained.


In Mahabad, at the funeral of one of the victims, family members pulled off the Khomeinist flag from the victim’s coffin, saying it is an illegitimate flag.  


Large protests also occurred in the northwestern city of Sanandaj.  

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his staff have continued to express their support for the Iranian people, calling out the Khomeinist regime for its tyranny.

Iranian Opposition Figure: “Khamenei Is Panicked”

In an interview with Israel’s i24TV, Iman Foroutan, leader of the Iran Liberation Congress, showed the video above of protestors in Dezful attacking the Basij base, and said that “it’s very significant. It shows the people are fighting back.” Foroutan then discussed the preparations Khamenei is making for the Friday prayers he has announced he will lead this week, for the first time in years, a sign that implies, in Foroutan’s view, that Khamenei knows how hated he is and is doing everything to rally his last supporters together.

Foroutan then mentioned the disappointment that Iranians felt when Nancy Pelosi blocked the resolution in support of their protests, pointing out that a similar resolution to support demonstrations in Hong Kong passed Congress a few weeks ago with a wide bipartisan vote.

Regime Harassing Plane Crash Victims Families, but Canada gives Tehran a Pass

According to reports from Iran, the regime is silencing families of those killed in the Ukrainian airliner crash, banning them from talking to reports or holding public mourning ceremonies. Family members have also been informed that they will not receive the remains of their loved ones if they violate these rules. This development comes after the mother of an Iranian-Canadian publicly called on Canadian government officials to help her obtain justice.

Despite this harassment, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not rebuke the regime for its behavior towards the Canadian citizens and residents he is charged with protecting, but instead, in an interview on Monday, lay the blame for the entire situation at the feet of the United States. Trudeau bizarrely claimed that the plane would not have been shot down had it not been for the Trump administration placing sanctions on Tehran. Iranian-Canadians have long been disappointed by Justin Trudeau’s willingness to appease the Khomeinist regime.


It is worth noting that while many Iranian filmmakers are banned from either making films or traveling abroad, Justin Trudeau’s brother Alexandre (Sacha) has collaborated with Islamic regime’s PressTV in producing a documentary whitewashing Tehran’s nuclear program.

Iran’s Crown Prince to the American People: The Iranian People are “Asking for Your Support”

On Thursday, January 15th, the well-regarded American think tank the Hudson Institute hosted a Q&A discussion between Iran’s Crown Prince, Reza Pahlavi, and Hudson scholar Dr. Michael Doran. In this hour-long talk, Pahlavi, whose name is the one most chanted by protestors on the streets of Iran, made several key points.

He gave a brief outline of the regime’s four-decade long history of terrorism and tyranny, noting that “this regime…has never been transparent. It has never been honest. It has proven time and again that it’s willing to sacrifice the lives of millions of Iranian people just to maintain itself in power.”

Pahlavi went into much detail regarding how close the Khomeinist regime is to imploding, and that the Iranian opposition has been working on a transition plan to move Iran from theocracy to democracy in a fast and peaceful manner once the regime is gone. However, this final push to bring it down will require help from the Western democracies. “We are very close to getting there, but we need every ounce of encouragement and support. The people of Iran need to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. They need to have hope that they won’t be abandoned because they have already braved and risked their lives with no support whatsoever. Imagine what they can do if they start having real support for a change beyond rhetoric – beyond rhetoric.”

The Crown Prince also reprimanded the international media for not giving the same coverage to Iranian protests as they have to protests in places such as Venezuela and Hong Kong, while gently reminded his listeners that the cause of Iranian freedom should be a moral issue, one not subject to partisan politics. “I think that the most important thing for all of us Iranians is that Iran should not be a matter of partisan politics. It is about freedom. It is about human rights. And it is not an exclusive privilege of the Democratic or Republican Party to opine on that. That’s why we expect Americans, regardless of which side of the aisle they are in their own domestic politics, not to make Iran an issue of partisan politics. That’s the first thing we expect as a nation.”

Michael Doran retorted to that statement by asking, “Did you hear that, Democrats?”

Starts at minute 11:10

 

 

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