Friday 29 November 2019



Update Iran


> It is estimated that around 370 people were killed by the regime's forces in the protests that started on 15th of November

> The families of those killed have either not been given the bodies of their loved ones, have been made to pay to get the bodies and have been told that they could only get the bodies if they will only hold a very small ceremony (no publicity), not talk to the media, no interviews. The regime is petrified that the funerals of those killed and public statements by family members could lead to more protests. However some of the families are speaking out.

> According to some reports there were around a thousand people gathered in front of the forensic medical centre in Tehran, people demanding the bodies of their loved ones.

> An estimated 7000 to 10000 people have been detained by the regime during the protests. Reports come out that most of them are held in makeshift detention centres, that there are being tortured and mistreated and that the facilities are absolutely inadequate

> The regime has said that those in the protest may be exexuted

> There are people gathering in front of prisons in the province of Khuzestan, demanding to know about the whereabouts of their loved ones

> There were protests in 28 out of the 30 provinces in Iran

>Since the tripling of the price of petrol on 15th of December, the price of other goods and services has also risen sharply

#Iran #IranProtest #IranProtests #protest



Sunday 24 November 2019

Protests against the Islamic regime of Iran


There have been many protests in support of the protesters in Iran and agaisnst the Islamic regime over the last week.

Here are scenes from Toronto, Vancouver, Stockholm, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hannover, Berlin, Malmo




























The Protests will turn into an all-encompassing Revolution




The Islamic Republic, who has implemented an undeclared martial law, shutting down the Internet, killing hundreds and arresting thousands of protesters, claims that the protests are over. But the very nature of these recent crimes shows that the revolution to overthrow the Islamic regime must and will continue. The Islamic Republic is a state of plunder, robbery, corruption, reaction, and crime and should be done away with. 

The masses of deprived and exasperated people, the workers, teachers, retirees, women and the youth of this country are determined to dispel the Islamic nightmare and to do so they continue to protest boldly and in spite of the crimes of the regime’s armed mercenaries.

The people do not want to live below the poverty line and under the rule of the capitalist mafia. The Iranian people do not want to live under the yoke of the thieves and the murderers. The Iranian people do not want insecurity, reactionism and superstition rule over their lives.

The recent protests began over an increase in the price of petrol, but as in the revolutionary uprisings of the 2009 summer and the 2017 winter, the slogans of “Down with the Dictator” and “Down with the Islamic Republic” soon dominated the protests. There were clashes with the regime’s mercenaries everywhere. People took control of neighbourhoods and did not allow the regime’s mercenaries to enter.

The day will come soon when the revolutionary people will sweep away the entirety of the regime together with its judiciary, legislature, police, Revolutionary Guards, paramilitary Basij, its religious seminaries and the totality of the Islamic collusion. The Islamic Republic has confronted the people with tanks, prisons and its criminals; the people will respond with nationwide strikes and protests. The overthrow of this despicable and reactionary regime is inevitable. 

The struggle against the Islamic Republic continues in many areas and cities; nationwide strikes and protests will be the extension of this struggle and will continue until the Islamic Republic is finally eliminated. The countdown for the toppling of the Islamic Republic has begun.

Long live the humane revolution for a humane society!
Long live the Socialist Republic!

Worker-communist Party of Iran
November 22, 2019


Friday 22 November 2019

200 protestors killed, over 3000 injured and several thousand detained in Iran

 


According to reports from Iran, the security forces have so far killed more than 200 protestors and injured more than 3000. Several thousand have been arrested and detained. The regime has threatened to execute those who were arrested during the demonstrations. In the province of Kurdistan the Revolutionary Guards have ordered the hospitals not to treat those injured at the demonstrations.

In Shiraz, army tanks patrol the streets. Three tanks were also seen on the streets of Mahshahr three days ago. This shows the strength of the people’s struggle. The Islamic Republic has used all of its oppressive forces but has not been able to repress the uprising. Hence, it has brought its armoured vehicles onto the streets.

In the Afsariyeh neighbourhood, in the south-east of Tehran, the demonstrations continued through the night and the people clashed with the security forces. In Sattarkhan Street, in the west of Tehran, the demonstrators - with women on the front lines - clashed with the police and pushed them back.
In the cities of Doroud and Khorramabad the demonstrators attacked several government buildings.

Demonstrations and clashes with the security forces continue in Isfahan. It has been reported that in Eslamshahr one Revolutionary Guard and a Basiji were killed during the clashes with the protestors. In Fereydounshahr, in the province of Isfahan, the Revolutionary Guards raided hospitals and kidnapped the corpses of dead and injured protestors.

Protests continue in Marivan; the death toll is high in this city. All shops are closed; the people have taken control of some neighbourhoods and do not let security forces enter. In Javanroud the people have pushed back the security forces. In Kermanshah, the security forces demand 500 million Tomans in order to hand over the bodies of the killed to their families.

Demonstrations and protests continue in Ahvaz and Khorramshahr. 17 have been reported killed by the security forces in Mahshahr. People continue their protests despite the atrocities of the security forces. In the city of Asalouyeh, petro-chemical complexes and refineries are closed due to road blockages. The Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane workers and the Polyethylene Petro-Chemistry workers continue their strikes. In the cities of Ahvaz, Shush, Behbahan, Khorramshahr and Omidiyeh, the families of the detainees continue their protests in front of the prisons. Families of those who were killed also protest in front of the forensic medical centre. At least 35 have been reported dead in these cities.

The Internet shutdown continues; the regime is trying to prevent people from communicating with each other and contacting the opposition abroad in order to hide the extent of its atrocities and barbarity. Some governors have said publicly that they are not allowed to reveal the number of the dead.

We call upon human rights, workers’ rights, and women’s rights organizations and unions worldwide and the international community to strongly condemn the crimes of the Islamic regime, to put pressure on the Islamic Republic and to support the people in Iran who fight for freedom, equality and a prosperous, humane society. We call on the international public to join the demonstrations that are being organized abroad in solidarity with the people in Iran.

Worker-communist Party of Iran
20 November 2019

The Protests and the Uprising in Iran continue with greater intensity






On 15th of November 2019, the price of petrol in Iran was raised drastically. The rationed petrol price was increased by 50% while the price of non-rationed petrol was tripled. The Islamic regime in Iran claims that the petrol price increase would be beneficial to the people. However, the people in Iran, the majority of whom suffers from acute poverty, took to the streets in large numbers to protest the price increase. The first peaceful demonstrations that quickly turned into a violent uprising owing to the brutal attack of the special forces on demonstrators, took place in Isfahan, Shiraz, Bandar Abbas, Karaj, Ahvaz, Gatvand, Mahshahr, Behbahan, Khorramshar and several other cities.

Eventually, the protests intensified and expanded to more than twenty cities and the slogans turned more radical and political. People chanted “Down with the Dictator” (meaning the supreme leader Khamenei), “Don’t be Scared, We are all United”, “Shame on you Dictator, Leave the Country Alone”, “Mullahs Should Get Lost”, “The Price of Gas Increases, The Poor become Poorer”.

On the second day of the uprising, people in cities such as Tabriz and Kermanshah clashed with the security forces and the special police. On November 16, the fuel tanker drivers in the province of Khuzestan went on strike in support of the protestors. The same day, people succeeded in taking control of several districts and boroughs in cities such as Abadan, Ahvaz, Behbahan, Khorramshahr and Omidiyeh and prevented the police and the Special Forces from entering the cities and neighbourhoods. The same day, students in several cities joined the protests. Students of the Free University of Gohardasht in Karaj took to the streets while chanting “Our People is Rebellious, Has Had Enough of Slavery”. This slogan in fact reveals the radical leftist emancipatory potential of the uprising as it not only aims at the Islamic Republic, but also the capitalist relations of production that are guarded by the Islamic regime in Iran. On the same day, the students of the University of Urmia also joined the uprising. In a communique that was issued the same day by the Worker-communist Party of Iran, people were called upon to form their committees and councils in order to take control of boroughs, districts and cities.

November 16, is also the day that the people in Isfahan’s Zeynabiyeh district set the Howza-ye Elmiye (the common name of the vocational school were mullahs are trained) on fire. In the town of Andisheh, people occupied the paramilitary Basij’s station. In Tabriz, several stations of the security forces were set on fire. In Vaeen a precinct was set on fire while in Ghale Hassan-Khan, a borough of the city of Quds, the protestors burned down the governor’s building. In Aryashahr, a district in the west of Tehran, people took to the streets chanting slogans such as “Down with Khamenei” and “Enough with the Islam with which you have made people miserable”.

Within the first two days of the protests, twenty eight people, including a twelve-year-old child, were killed by the security forces of the regime.

The protests accelerated and the number of participants rose drastically on November 17. The protests turned also more radical, which is visible in the slogans the protestors chanted. In several districts of Tehran and Mashhad the protests continued well into the night with people chanting “We Don’t Want the Islamic Republic”, “Down with Khamenei” and “Down with the Dictator”. On Azadi Square in the city of Mashhad, people destroyed an armoured vehicle that belonged to the Special Forces. In the city of Khorramshahr, people set the governor’s office and several other government buildings on fire. In Karaj, people set at last 15 banks and police stations on fire and burned the flag of the Islamic regime. In the Tehran borough of Robat-Karim a gas station, in the district of Tehran-Pars a bank, and in the city of Quds the governor’s building and a number of banks were set on fire. Protestors burned down a police station in the Mali-abad district of Shiraz.

On the same day, the Islamic Republic, fearing that the protests would spread even wider and a potential general strike, closed down schools for two days allegedly due to severe weather conditions and heavy traffic.

17th of November was also the day that the students of the University of Tehran, the University of Tabriz, the University of Isfahan, the University of Urmia and the University of Sanandaj joined the ranks of the protestors. In Tehran the students chanted “Petroleum Money is Used to Finance the Basij”, “Workers and Students, Stand Side by Side in the Fight”, “Gas Price Increases, the Poor become Poorer”, “Free Political Prisoners”, “Down with the Dictator”, “People Live in Misery, the Master (Khamenei) Lives Like a God” and “Hardliner, Reformist, This is the end of your Stories”.

According to official statements, more than a thousand people were arrested and detained until November 17. On November 18, however, the families of the detainees gathered in front of prisons in Ahvaz and Behbahan demanding the immediate release of their loved ones. The families were also accompanied by other people.

On November 18, workers of the Polyethylene Petro-chemistry Complex of Mahshahr went on strike protesting the costliness of living expenses and poor working conditions. Meanwhile, it was reported that trucks that carry loads from and to the Complex were stopped by the protestors and their loads confiscated by the people. The fuel tanker drivers’ strike continued. The regime tried to use trucks that belong to the Revolutionary Guards (Pasdaran) to transport fuel but it was reported that they did not succeed as they were prevented from doing so by the people.

It has also been reported that on November19, despite all the threats of the regime, the workers of the Haft-Tappeh Sugar Cane Complex went on strike and marched toward the governor’s office. People joined the workers’ protests and many women were on the frontline of the march. In Mahshahr, the regime brought its military forces and tanks into the streets. However, the people were not intimidated and the protests continue in this city too. The protestors also attacked the Howza-ye Elmiyah and the offices of the Friday prayer Imams and set them on fire in Kazerun, Ahvaz, Shiraz, Isfahan and several other cities. This shows the depth of the people’s hatred towards the Islamic regime and Islamic rule.

In the face of the uprising, the regime panicked and has had several emergency meetings. The regime has shut down the Internet in order to prevent people from communicating the news of the protests; they have also blocked telephone lines. But the uprising continues with greater intensity and momentum and the protests have spread to more than one hundred cities as of today, November 19.
Schools and universities are closed until November 23, in Tehran and many other cities, and premier league football matches have been suspended. Despite all the atrocious and barbaric acts of the Islamic Republic that so far have claimed the life of hundreds of protestors, the people won’t budge and they are continuing their revolutionary movement to topple the Islamic regime. This uprising is the prologue to a massive social revolution that will end the Islamic Republic and will create a secular, free, equal and humane society.

Long Live Prosperity, Freedom, Equality!
Long Live Socialism!

The Worker-communist Party of Iran
November 19, 2019