The Iranian Resistance Units inside Iran, which form the domestic People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) network, have organized a campaign to get the public to boycott the regime’s Presidential elections later this year.
In Rasht, Kermanshah, and Bushehr, they created an anti-regime campaign, urged regime change, and pledged to introduce freedom, democracy, and equality in Iran during this Persian calendar year.
Despite the repressive atmosphere and the increased presence of security forces, they put up graffiti and handwritten signs in the city centres with the slogans:
- “Our vote is overthrowing the mullahs and boycott the election sham”
- “The mullahs will be overthrown this year”
- “No to the election of the mullahs, no to mullahs’ rule, yes to freedom”
- “The regime’s presidential election sham does not bear any vestige of legitimacy in the eyes of the Iranian people”
Since its inception in 1979, the regime has sought to present two warring factions to the people and the rest of the world; the reformists who are in favor of closer ties with the West and the hardliners who aren’t. The trouble is that this two-party system has never been true. Both sides swear allegiance to the Supreme Leader and work to execute his wishes through an elaborate political game. The Iranian people know this. It’s why they’ve been chanting “Reformists, hardliners, the game is over” in protests since 2017.
The country is in crisis right now. It’s suffering from rising prices, high inflation, rampant poverty, an uncontrolled pandemic, various natural disasters, and an epidemic of mental health problems, including addiction, caused by the other issues in the country.
The Iranian people’s anger during the 2017 uprising was red hot, but it’s now risen to white-hot. They’ve seen five uprisings since then and the biggest – November 2019 – saw 1,500 protesters gunned down in the streets by the security forces who fired indiscriminately into the crowd.
In Tehran and Isfahan, Resistance Units put up posters of National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) President Maryam Rajavi featuring the slogans, “The election boycott is a response to the killing of 1500 martyrs in November 2019” and “The Iranian people’s nationwide boycott is yet another response to the murder of 1500 blood-drenched martyrs of November 2019”.
The Resistance Units, who like the rest of the country just celebrated the Iranian new year (Nowruz), are determined to bring more protests this year and ensure the overthrow of the regime.
