Coverage Of Nationwide Protests In Iran On October 21

The massive Freedom Rally for Iran started in Berlin, Germany, in what is being described as the biggest gathering of Iranian protesters across the world. People from all corners of the continent traveled to Berlin with buses, trains and planes.

The police said on Wednesday they had registered 80,000 participants for the demonstration near the main government buildings in the center of the city, and a German TV channel called the numbers “surprising”.

Police say the demonstration was organized by “Woman Life Freedom Kollektiv”, with the stated goal of standing up against oppression and discrimination in Iran.

The famous Iranian-Canadian activist Hamed Esmaeilion, who lost his daughter and wife in the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane in January 2020 by the Revolutionary Guard, has also supported the demonstration.

Protesters carried the pictures of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who was killed in the custody of Iran’s ‘morality police’, as well as those who lost their lives in the nationwide protest movement since mid-September. They also unfurled a large Iranian pre-revolution national flag, which has become a symbol of rejecting the Islamic Republic.

They were also Ukrainian flags in the demonstration, apparently as a sign of mutual support. Reports said some Ukrainians also took part.

The families of the victims of the Ukrainian plane held each other’s hands as a sign of unity calling for justice.

Protesters emphasized unity among Iranians both inside the country and in the diaspora while chanting the slogan “Today Only Unity, Unity!”

Demonstrators also chanted slogans like “Clerics Must Get Lost!”, “Death to Khamenei”, and “Death to the Islamic Republic!”.

Up to 100,000 postal cards are expected to be signed by those attending the Berlin rally and sent to the office of European Union foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, urging the EU to reconsider its ties with Islamic Republic.

Addressing the rally Berlin, Esmaeilion said, “We have a dream which will be realized with the fall of Khamenei's empire of fear and crime. In this dream, wind will blow through women's hair, and no one will attack schoolgirls.”

He also urged Western governments “to stop negotiating with a criminal government called the Islamic Republic and expel their ambassadors.”

“Confiscate the wealth they looted from the people of Iran,” he asked the West.

Addressing the Western countries, the Iranian activist went on to say, “No one is asking you to go to war or sanction people. Stop negotiations with the regime and sanction and expel those lobbying for the Islamic Republic.”

Calling on the West to recognize the revolution staged by Iranian youth, he said the Islamic Republic is not the same as Iran.

“Respect the most progressive revolution in the Middle East and stand on the right side of history,” noted Esmaeilion.

Rioters take part in the protests because they are well-fed," added Assembly of Experts member Mohsen Haydari, another Iranian cleric who enjoys a luxurious life without having worked for even one day in his lifetime, while the middle class has been wiped out due to 40-percent inflation in the past three years.

These are just two examples of what Iranian pro-government clerics who are paid by the Islamic Republic regime to echo Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's arrogant rhetoric against his own people, many of whom no longer want to submit to his dictatorship

But they are not alone in bragging against the protests. Some military figures also spoke about the uprising on Friday. Brigadier General Hamid Abazari, an adviser to the commander of the IRGC opined that young women and men taking part in the protests have been deceived by "the enemy," which means the United States in the Islamic Republic's political jargon.

All this, and more, have been said while, an Iranian sociologist, Mohammad Reza Javadi Yeganeh, has warned that the window of opportunity for the regime to open a dialogue with the country's angry youths is not going to remain open for long as the regime increasingly isolates itself within its hard core.

In the meantime, others such as the Tehran Province Governor Mohsen Mansouri have tried to help the regime out of its biggest crisis in 43 years by offering to allocate certain places in big cities where people can protest. Mansouri has made the remark in the disguise of a lawful and democratic proposal. However, Iranian protesters believe this is a trick to make sure that the security forces are aware of all the demonstrations beforehand and can practice various ways to crackdown based on the specifications of every location.

The current protests take place at different locations during daytime and night and gatherings are fairly mobile in a bid to evade dangerous confrontation with security forces who are willing with no reservation to shoot to kill.

In his interview with ISNA, Mansouri said that his office has considered the requests for holding protest gatherings and has responded to those requests. However, it is clear that no such permit has been issued so far even for pro-government "reformist" parties that have recently complained that the Governor's Office and the Interior Ministry have ignored all of their requests.

At the same time, some political figures appear to be fishing in troubled waters by trying to garner support for the next parliamentary election. Mohammad Hassan Asafari, a lawmaker from Arak in the Central Province, told the press that taking part in the protests is a lawful activity, adding that protesters come to his office and talk with him about the situation. He is probably referring to another country as most lawmakers, including Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf are known for their opposition to the protests and their comments about cracking down on dissent.

Asafari, however, has acknowledged that people have grievances about the government's economic and foreign policies. This comes while Sociologist Yeganeh, who agrees with the lawmaker on the causes of the protests, wrote in a series of tweets on Thursday that the regime should "recognize the protests and stop behavior that irritates the people," or a gloomy future is s possibility.

A video obtained by Iran International shows workers at Aidin chocolate factory in Tabriz, northwest of Iran, have gone on strike chanting anti-government slogans in a large demonstration.

As in previous weeks, businesses in the big cities of Kordestan province including Sanandaj, Marivan, Banehand Saqqez also went on strike.

In Bukan, in West Azerbaijan Province people closed their shops to show anger at the brutal crackdown of the Islamic Republic against against protesters.

Nationwide protests schedules for Saturday also got underway around noon, led first by demonstrations in universities.

In another development, The Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations called on all teachers and students to refuse to attend classes on October 23 and 24.

The union also asked school principles to participate in the strikes, asking them not to stand against the strikers and resist attacks by the plainclothes agents on students.

During the past days the regime agents have intensified violence against protesting children at schools and arrested teachers and cultural activists.

The bill which would “impose sanctions on the supreme leader of Iran and the president of Iran and their respective offices for human rights abuses and support for terrorism.”

The Mahsa Amini Act, named after the 22-year-old woman who was killed in the custody of Iran’s hijab police, would block the assets of all officials of the Islamic Republic, including Khamenei and Raisi who can be considered the main decision makers in human rights abuses.

Such legislation would have a symbolic impact on the Iranian leaders, but any additional sanctions would mean further isolation for the Islamic Republic and make it harder for the Biden Administration to make a new nuclear deal with Tehran.

“The supreme leader holds ultimate authority over Iran’s judiciary and security apparatus, including the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, law enforcement forces under the Interior Ministry, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the Basij, a nationwide volunteer paramilitary group subordinate to the IRGC, all of which have engaged in human rights abuses in Iran,” states the legislation.

The bill further says that “the IRGC, a United States designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, which reports to the supreme leader, continues to perpetrate terrorism around the globe, including attempts to kill and kidnap American citizens on United States soil.”

It also expresses “the sense of Congress that the United States shall stand with and support the people of Iran in their demand for fundamental human rights.”

Congressional sources told the Washington Free Beacon that the bill was presented to the offices of every Democratic member of the House of Representatives, but none of them supported the plan.

Claudia Tenney the Republican lawmaker says Congress must not lose the chance to help protesters by increasing sanctions on the Iranian regime.

“The Iranian regime’s heartless murder of Mahsa Amini once again exposed the reality that Iran’s government abuses and subjugates women,” said Tenney adding that “the brutal crackdown on protesters has shown their disdain for basic human rights and underscores the need for a more permanent sanctions regime against the Iranian government.”

Likewise, Republican Michael Waltz, who is one of the coauthors of the bill, says “We’re nearly two years into the Biden administration and it’s clear their appeasement policy towards Iran isn’t working.”

“The Iran regime continues to export terrorism, repress its people, directly aid Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, and is closer to a nuclear weapon than ever before. We need to stand up for our national security and the people of Iran by reimposing crippling sanctions on the Iran Regime,” underlined Waltz.

The Biden Administration has taken several steps since the protests in Iran began in mid-September. It has issued sanctions against some officials and entities and has signaled that nuclear talks with Iran have been put on the backburner. But its lax enforcement of oil export sanctions since early 2021, has allowed China to import more Iranian crude, which has somewhat boosted the regime’s income.

According to the Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights Organization at least 215 people, including 27 children have been killed with excessive and lethal force throughout Iran during the current antigovernment protests.

The group calling itself the Black Reward claimed on Friday that the internal email system of Iran's Nuclear Power Production and Development Company was hacked.

Black Reward warned that it will publish the data it has obtained within 24 hours unless the Islamic Republic releases all political prisoners and detained protesters.

There has been no reaction from the government so far.

The hacktivist group said the Islamic Republic’s officials well know what impact the release of these hacked data will have on their “sloppy nuclear program.”

“There's no solution but giving in to the popular demands, which means the end of the Islamic Republic,” said Black Reward.

Earlier in the week, the group also announced that it hacked the emails of managers and employees of Press TV, the government’s international English news channel.

Black Reward asked the journalists of this network to be the “voice of the people” while the Islamic Republic is cracking down the anti-government protests.

Several other hacktivist groups including Anonymous launched cyberattacks on government institutions since the beginning of protests to topple the regime.