University students protested in at least 63 Iranian cities, along with demonstrations and strikes. Many experts believe that the fact that protests are still occurring in Iran, where the entire security apparatus is in place to crush any form of dissent, proves that these demonstrations are organized and are not “leaderless.”
Authorities have demanded the detention of “leaders” who direct these demonstrations toward the general call for regime change. Nonetheless, Iran’s volatile society is full of young people and women with the potential to lead this uprising. In addition, there has been a well-coordinated resistance movement against the clerical regime that has actively and widely disseminated the term “resistance” throughout Iran.
State officials have issued warnings regarding the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the main Iranian opposition group, and its extensive network of “Resistance Units” in their official statements. On October 29, the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) commander Hossain Salami made a “very confidential” statement, which was made public by the Iranian Resistance.
Salami emphasizes that the IRGC should begin “coherent, targeted, and planned intelligence patrols, both covert and overt, as well as setting up ambushes in the security and protection perimeter of these locations” in light of the “increasing trend of divisionary activities by elements of the Resistance Units affiliated to the [MEK] against classified locations.”
On October 10, IRGC Brigadier General Mohammad Bagheri, the regime’s Chief of Staff for the Armed Forces, added his name to the long list of officials who have acknowledged the MEK’s pivotal role in the recent uprising.
“The very few scenes of chaos in some parts of the country, and the enemy’s focus on the ethnic and religious minority, all indicate the enemy has waged a full-fledged war on [the regime]. In this war, the evil [MEK] and other terrorist grouplets act as the enemy’s pawns,” Bagheri said, according to the state-run Entekhab website.
Protests were sparked initially by the tragic death of Mahsa Amini in police custody, but by the second week, Iran’s nationwide uprising and slogans emphasized anything but one goal: the demise of the ruling theocracy.
#Iran News in Brief
The Iranian regime's supreme leader's representatives in various cities as well as other state officials warn against the role of organized units in #IranRevolution2022.
Read⬇️https://t.co/R9Rskwjb0n pic.twitter.com/63yiScBx6Q— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) October 7, 2022
Wednesday marked the 40th anniversary of Mahsa’s death. People throughout Iran, including Mahsa’s hometown of Saqqez, chanted phrases like “We fight and take back Iran,” “Let’s fight,” “We will not return until the revolution is complete,” and “This isn’t a protest anymore, it’s a revolution.”
Iranians from all walks of life are, in fact, putting their lives in danger to bring about freedom and democracy. People’s strategies for challenging security forces have evolved as protests have continued. They bravely engage in combat with the police. On October 27, a video from Tehran showed a bare-handed young man charging at a fully armed agent. Daily, people set the flags and symbols of the regime on fire. High school students join university students in their steadfast demonstrations and sit-ins.
They are prepared to pay whatever it takes to achieve freedom. Thus, the need for a regime change and the right to self-defense of the Iranian people should be acknowledged by the international community.
