Anti-corruption Protests Spread From Tehran To Other Iranian Cities

27 December 2017

EsinIslam And Agencies

Rallies against corruption in high places spread Thursday from Tehran to sweep up an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 more demonstrators in Mashhad, Urmia near the Turkish border and Arak between Tehran and Isfahan. DEBKAfile, reporting on the rising wave of Iranian popular protest, noted that they are becoming increasingly political. Placards were calling "Death to Rouhani" and groups shouted in chorus: "No to Syria! No to Lebanon! No to Gaza!" and "Corruption is everywhere!" In Mashhad, demonstrators gathered outside the residence of supreme leader, Khamenei's favorite for president, Ebrahim Raisi, who heads the Astan Quds Razavi, Khamenei's personal financial organ.

The anti-corruption protests first erupted in the capital, Tehran, outside Khamenei's residence, with the slogan on placards asking, "Where is the money?" It was a reference to the vast sums released to Iran by the Obama administration for signing the 2015 nuclear accord. The government clamped gag orders on the event and ordered the large numbers of Revolutionary Guards officers mobilized to act with restraint and refrain from making arrests. The protests then began spreading.

Thousands protest high prices in Iran's Mashhad

Several thousand residents protested high prices and denounced President Hassan Rouhani across Iran, including the nation's second-largest city, Mashhad, on Thursday.

In the northern Iranian city, protesters shouted 'Death to Rouhani' and 'Death to the dictator' and 'If you stop one case of embezzlement, our problem will be solved.'

They also held banners opposing Iran's interference in the Arab region, including troops and funds sent to assist Syria's government. They chanted, 'Forget about Syria, think about us.'

Besides protests in city of about 3 million, demonstrations took place in cities that included Neyshabur, Kashmar, Birjand, Shahrood and Noshahr. And last week demonstrations took place in Isfahan against high unemployment.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran said forces were stationed in Mashhad but protesters pushed them away. The security forces then opened fire and launched tear gas at demonstrators. The protesters resisted, returning tear gas to the forces.

Maryam Rajavi , president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, called on all the people, especially the youth, to support Mashhad's uprising. 'The heroic uprising of today in large parts of Iran has once again proved that the overthrow of the mullahs' regime and the establishment of democracy and the rule of people is a national and public demand,' she said in a statement.

A call for 'no to high prices' protests appeared on social media.

'While the overwhelming majority of the people of Iran are suffering from poverty, inflation and unemployment, most of the country's wealth and revenues is spent on military and security apparatuses and military and regional interventions, or is being looted by the regime leaders or goes into their bank accounts,' Rajavi said. 'Therefore, so long as this regime is in power, the economic and living conditions of the people become worse and the only solution to get rid of economic and social problems is to overthrow the clerical regime.'

Prices of staples, including eggs, have risen by up to 40 percent recently, which farmers attribute to higher prices for imported feed, Iran Freedom reported.

Uprisings of Kermanshah, Mashhad and other cities are death knell to the corrupt mullahs' dictatorship

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi , President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, saluted the heroic people of Kermanshah and other cities who rose up today with the slogans "death or freedom", "death to Rouhani", "death to the dictator", and "political prisoners must be freed", and protested against high prices, poverty and corruption. She said, "Yesterday Mashhad, today Kermanshah, and tomorrow throughout Iran; this uprising has tolled the death knell for the overthrow of the totally corrupt dictatorship of the mullahs, and is the rise of democracy, justice and popular sovereignty.

Mrs. Rajavi called on all the people, especially the youth and women throughout the country, to join the 'No to High Prices' uprising, saying that "the corrupt dictatorship of the mullahs will undoubtedly fail against your national unity and solidarity, resistance and continuity of your rightful uprisings."

She added that the four decade record of the mullahs' rule has been nothing but inflation, poverty and corruption, torture and execution, killings and aggression. The bulk of the people's wealth, including the money released in the nuclear deal, is either spent on repression and export of terrorism and war, or is plundered by the regime's leaders. The overthrow of the religious fascism is the first step to get out of the crisis that is intensifying every day.

She said that the mullahs' regime has no future; investment on it is doomed to failure, and it is time for the international community to not tie their fate to this regime and recognize the Iranian people Resistance to overthrow that regime.
 

©  EsinIslam.Com

Add Comments