Iran Gohardasht Prison: chanting “Set fire to the principle of velayat-e faqih”

Resourceful political prisoners in Gohardasht (Rajai Shahr) Prison held a Fire Festival ceremony on Tuesday under the surveillance of suppressive elements in this prison. Along with the people throughout Iran they chanted “set fire to the ward and to handcuffs”, “set fire to tyranny”, “set fire to a regime of ill faith”, “set fire more than before”, and “set fire to the principle of velayat (clerical rule)” while jumping over a bonfire.

Iran – University professor detained for publishing a caricature

 

IRGC suppressive guards arrested a member of the academic board of Sistan & Baluchistan University, southeast of Iran, for publishing a caricature of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

This caricature, which was put on Telegram by a group of academicians in that university, received publicity among students.

Iran: Prison Visitor detained

Peyman Kooshkbaghi, was arrested himself when he went to visit his wife in jail.

According to Campaign to Defend Civil and Political Prisoners in Iran

 The couple, who belong to the Baha’i sect, were once arrested fin June 2012 when government security forces attacked a Baha’i education center.

 Penman’s wife, Azita Rafi Zadeh, founder of Baha’is ‘center for high education, is doing a five year term in Evin Prison.

Tehran - contract employees of Azadi Stadium on strike

Contract workers of Tehran’s Azadi Stadium went at 9 on strike on Monday, February 29^th as their paychecks have been delayed for a long time now. Workers of contract companies related to the stadium management were also on strike in this coordinated protest.

A portion of these workers’ demands were to be paid in leases, and the remaining to be deposited in the spring of 2016, according to a protester. However, the stadium management and officials have not lived up to their words, leaving them empty handed before the Iranian calendar New Year on March 20^th. Azadi Stadium contract workers have not received their paychecks for the past 4 months.

Did “elections” change anything?

Reports and pictures taken from last Friday’s elections in Iran negate that it was really an election day. Many polling stations were seen empty at different hours of the day. No long queues were formed.  It was just another Friday in Tehran and other cities. As it was expected these elections did not stir much in the Iranian people, leaving many polling stations close to empty. Ayatollahs’ threatening words did not work this time. Just a few days before the “elections”  Khamenei's religious decrees (fatwas) to say that participating in elections is a religious obligation, blank ballots violate Sharia law, meant that boycotting the elections could bring severe  consequences. Nevertheless the turnout was very low.

Regime bans activist from leaving Iran for medical treatment

Dr. Mohammad Malaki, first Tehran University dean after 1979 revolution

Tehran, February 25^th – Former Tehran University dean Dr. Mohammad Malaki has continued his efforts to gain a passport to exit Iran for medical treatment. However, he has been told he is banned from departing Iran.

After Dr. Malaki’s follow-ups he was finally told the Revolutionary Guards has banned him from leaving the country. According to Dr. Malaki’s friends no specific government body is providing any answers on why he has been banned from leaving the country. The Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS/VEVAK) is depriving this human rights activist from receiving any medical care.

Iran: 1 million engineers outside of work cycle in mullahs’ regime

Skyrocketing unemployment in Iran

Saturday, February 27^th: The Statistics Center in Iran admitted more than 1 million graduated engineers in Iran are not present in the country’s active engineering population. 233,000 people are unemployed amongst the active engineering population.

The reason behind such conditions is the fact that the Revolutionary Guards has monopolized all construction projects, said Bahram Ghaffari, an advisor at Iran’s Engineering Organization.

3,000 prisoners in southeast Iran prison boycott Islamic state’s election

Zahedan Central Prison

Despite many threats and incentives by officials of the Islamic republic against inmates in Zahedan Central Prison aimed at forcing prisoners to vote in the sham twin elections, 3,000 inmates in this jail boycotted the polls and refused to cast their votes, the Human Rights & Democracy Advocates in Iran reported.

Iran’s elections are a facade – Linda Chavez

system, despite the facade of elections, is anything but democratic, says Linda Chavez, chairwoman of the Center for Equal Opportunity.

"Its constitution provides for a 'Guardian Council' made up of six theologians and six jurists, appointed by the Supreme Leader and the Supreme Leader-appointed chief jurist, respectively. The Guardian Council's purpose is to ensure that any laws passed by the consulting assembly are compatible with Islam as interpreted by the Guardian Council. There is no separation of powers as we know it; it is essentially a system where one man rules: namely the Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei," Ms. Chavez wrote on Friday in TownHall.com.

Iranian people’s message in elections: Our vote = regime overthrow

The Iranian people did not welcome the February 26^th sham elections and according to live reports from many polling stations, voting came to an end on Friday in a cold and spiritless atmosphere of intense security measures. Despite all the advertisement and various camps pouring money and investing efforts to lure people to the polls, which of course has roots in an obvious and growing power struggle amongst the ruling brass, state officials were extremely nervous throughout the day of any possible protest.

This year’s elections in Iran, like those in the past, was the scene of a total religious dictatorship imposing its hegemony as if it were blessed with credibility from God, forever to come.

Iran: My Vote is Overthrow of Islamic Republic

Another slogan on the wall of the city, “Our vote is overthrow of Islamic republic”

Shiraz: writing sIran: Slogan on the walls, “Our vote is overthrow of Khamenei’s Dictatorial rule”

Shiraz: writing slogan on the walls, “Our vote is overthrow of Khamenei’s dictatorial rule”

Iran: Painting Spray and Tearing Elections Banners

Iran: A young individual dissident in paint spraying and tearing off the Mullahs candidate banners in Shiraz.

Iran: Ripping off and Smashing Election Banners

   Iran: An angry dissident is ripping off and smashing the candidate’s banners in Shiraz Main Street.

Iran: people boycotting sham twin elections

Up to noon this morning Iranians have largely boycotted the sham twin parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections, based on a statement issued by the Iranian Resistance. Polling stations in Tehran and many other cities are vacant, according to numerous reports received from inside Iran.

The candidates of rival factions consist of individuals who in the past three decades played the main roles in the religious fascism ruling Iran. For example, the Rafsanjani-Rouhani faction has three ministers of intelligence, including Mohammad Mohammadi Reyshahri, Ghorban-Ali Dori Najaf-abadi and Mahmoud Alavi. Ali Raizani is a criminal judge who has played a key role in the past three decades in executing and massacring thousands of people in Iran, and the export of terrorism abroad.

Coal Mine workers protest for their unpaid wages.

 

Tuesday Feb. 23 - Coal mine workers of Minoo Dasht, south of Iran, gathered, for the second day in a row, in front of the local governor’s office to demand their months of unpaid wages.

In fear of spreading the protest Mino Dasht governor met with workers, Coal mine workers received one month pay and agreed to get the rest by the end of March.

Iran: A young man commits suicide in Ahwaz

 

A young man from Ahwaz, the center of Iranian province of Khuzestan, by the name of Hassan Salemi, committed suicide on Monday, Feb 22 due to his unemployment and poverty. He was married and had a child.

Iran: Some candidates pay to buy votes

Bribery to gain votes

 Sobhani, candidate for the city of Qazvin, north of the capital said in an interview with the state Fars news agency that some candidates invest a lot of money to buy votes. He added that one of the candidates has promised those who show up for elections and bring their car he would fill up the gas for them, give them a good lunch and an additional 50 thousands Tomans.

Some other candidates have promised that they provide for voters one full year free use of Internet.

Iran – ignominy for the state run television

A move by Iran NTV to pretend that Iranian people are in favor the elections failed and rather turned into a scandal for the Mullahs. On Sunday Feb. 21^st Iranian state TV send its reporter to Tehran’s Azadi Square to ask people‘s opinion about the elections. More than %90 of the youths interviewed said they would not take part in the elections. They argued that poverty, corruption and devastated economy of the country leave no unwillingness to voting.  In response to people criticizing the government once the reporter said, “your answers will not be aired on TV”.

"Our vote = regime change, Our vote= Freedom”