On January 14, protests erupted in 116 cities across 30 provinces during the most recent large-scale protest in Shiraz. Protesters chanted slogans like “the government is betraying, the parliament is supporting,” implying that the turmoil was directed at the Iranian regime. “Rise up to end discrimination!” they shouted, encouraging the rest of society to join them in their protests.
This is the third demonstration organized by teachers
With numerous educators yelling “The imprisoned teacher must be released,” a recurrent theme across recent rallies, the movement overcame the institutional effort to stifle and suffocate dissent. “By insisting on their rights, the teachers imparted the lesson of resistance against persecution and tyranny,” said Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
This is the third nationwide demonstration organized by teachers in the previous two months. In terms of demands and slogans, the protests on December 13, December 23, and January 13 have grown deeper and more radical, indicating a shift in the power balance between the people and the regime.
Mullahs have failed to terrify and silence the Iranian people
It demonstrates that the regime’s efforts to oppress, coerce, and terrorize this defiant community has failed. Even the appointment of the former Chief of the Judiciary to the presidency, with thousands of executions on his record, and 245 killings in the last five months, equal to the whole number of executions in the preceding year, have failed to terrify and silence the Iranian people.
Only a few years ago, a teacher-led protest drew only a few dozen people. They assembled in front of the regime’s parliament in Tehran before regime security forces attacked them with batons and tear gas in an attempt to disperse them, but to no avail. These days, the power of sharing information via social media is bringing individuals from all over the world together in a big way. Despite the regime’s repressive forces’ full mobilization to quell the unrest, these recent state-wide protests have demonstrated that the Iranian people cannot and will not be silenced.
It is time to stand up, was the message of the teacher
The regime has closed its ranks and restructured its whole political hierarchy to ensure that no one misunderstands the Supreme Leader’s will to maintain power. What has changed, however, is the power balance between the people and the clerical government. On the one hand, while coping with super-crises and the inability to resolve them, the regime is getting weaker, and more vulnerable.
On the other side, society’s hatred and resentment toward the regime grows by the day, while resistance units and their daring actions inspire and urge a stubborn population to rise up.”It is time to stand up,” was the message of the state-wide teacher protest to the Iranian people. The January 13 protests are another link in a chain of upheavals that have been raging nonstop since March 2021, with the time between each insurrection getting shorter.
This process attests to Iranian society’s “revolutionary circumstances,” which speak volumes about big and fundamental changes on the horizon.
MEK Iran (follow us on Twitter and Facebook), Maryam Rajavi’s on her site, Twitter & Facebook, NCRI (Twitter & Facebook) and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTube
