Further, protests from outraged Iranian citizens took place earlier last week to vent their frustrations aimed at the Iranian regime. On Tuesday, Dec 28, 2021, retired teachers held demonstrations in 18 provinces across Iran on Tuesday, protesting against the regime’s destructive policies and the lack of response to the teachers’ demands.
In Tehran, the teachers gathered in front of the Majlis (parliament), while in other cities, demonstrations took place outside of the Welfare Organization offices. As the retirees continue to struggle daily with exacerbating economic problems, they stood together and chanted anti-regime slogans to highlight their anger towards the regime. Among the slogans was, “The government betrays and the Majlis supports it.”
A separate protest was also held in front of the Majlis at the same time held by employees of the Communications Ministries in the Bushehr, Fars and Gilan provinces.
The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) said, “The accumulating outrage in front of the Majlis caused fear and concern among regime officials, especially since protests in front of the regime’s parliament have become a common scene in the past few months. Throughout December, active teachers held several rounds of nationwide strikes in more than 100 cities, protesting a legislation that is meant to gloss over their outstanding needs and demands.”
The legislation, known as the ‘Teacher’s Classification Bill’, was the regime’s lack-lustre attempt to quell the protests. One regime MP made it clear that the bill merely increased the teachers’ dissatisfaction, while another MP warned that new waves of protests may spiral out of control.
The regime is terrified at the prospects of future imminent uprisings. Outrage across society is expanding and intensifying at a constant rate, with smaller protest rallies converging into province-wide and nation-wide movements. At the same time, the regime has proved that they are incapable of fully quelling the unrest, so they have resorted to hollow promises, repression and violence to help them to cling to power. The regime’s president, Ebrahim Raisi has constantly made promises to address the problems of the Iranian people and fix Iran’s economy, but as of yet, no improvements have been made.
The MEK said, “As the regime’s own media and experts have been saying, Raisi has been using the term “must” frequently to say that problems will be fixed, but none of them have materialized. The people’s living conditions have grown worse in recent months, prices are skyrocketing, inflation is rising, and unemployment is rampant.”
Raisi’s Interior minister, Ahmad Vahidi spoke out about the recent protests across Iran, saying, “In regard to rallies that had just demands, our colleagues are to convince them.”
From his comments, it is apparent that the regime is either incapable or unwilling to address the needs of the people, instead using band-aid methods to pacify the situations. As the regime’s history dictates, the only method they have to ‘convince’ the people of Iran is to resort to violence to quell unrest.
Earlier this year, the regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, in a bid to solidify his control over the Iranian government, appointed Raisi as the regime’s new president. A move to ensure that the consolidation of power would help to maintain the control over Iran’s restive society. However, the ongoing protests across Iran to date are proving to him that he is fighting a losing battle.
The MEK said, “As the regime’s power wanes, protesters are becoming more organized, more resolute, and more determined to reclaim their trampled rights. And it is only a matter of time before the people turn the tide and sweep the regime and its repressive security forces.”
