setting on fire the regime’s official centers. What Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei this time knows is that the clock will not turn back, and the uprising will continue.
According to state media, “so far about 1000 people have been arrested in recent unrest across the country, and more than 100 banks and 57 big shops were set on fire in just one province.” In addition to the arrests admitted by FARS news agency, at least 27 people have been killed in the cities of Shahriar, Karaj, Sirjan, Behbahan, Shiraz, Marivan, Khorramshahr and Tehran. But the latest true figures are upwards of 200 people killed.
Khamenei came to the scene yesterday and gave his final decision on the fuel prices, threatening the people who had come to protest the current situation and the increase in gasoline prices. He said that he supports the decision taken by the three branches. This was the last opportunity for his regime to save the regime. This is the characteristic of all dictators who are overconfident in their power of repression and ignore the power of the people.
Qaem Shahr, northern #Iran
Reports indicate youths were setting tires on fire in the streets and chanting anti-regime slogans. Authorities dispatched anti-riot units.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/QQPIvZHEqg— People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 19, 2019
Khamenei called the people who join the uprising a bunch of thugs, saying: “If the heads of the three branches decide, I will support them … Those who are protesting are thugs … the country’s officials will do their job seriously.”
Khamenei’s comment was immediately answered by the people, and people’s slogans changed from complaints about gasoline and rising costs to ‘Death to the dictator’ and ‘Death to Khamenei’ – which is an ultimatum to Khamenei and his regime.
By the end of yesterday, popular protests had spread to more than 117 cities across Iran, and in some western cities, such as Marivan and Javanrood, the intensity of clashes between the people and the repressive forces was high. Today, clashes between young Iranians and regime agents continue in many cities.
The regime’s interior minister, Abolreza Rahmani Fazli, appeared on the stage and addressed the people, saying, “So far, these people have been tolerated. A small amount of people did something in some cities, and it was decided that if this continued, law enforcement and security would do their job.” That means, that they will be suppressed.
Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian President, also appeared on the scene, and said to the people: “Subsistence aid will reach all 18 million households by early next week.” Following the announcement, it was announced yesterday by Mohamad Baqer Nabakht, the head of the Planning and Budget Organization: “The cash subsidy will be deposited into the household heads’ accounts on Sunday, 17 November 2019. The amount received for each of the taxpayers is the same as in the previous month 455,000 rials”.
The regime’s move and the decisions they announce, however, are financially burdening for them, and they are trying to cut off this amount of subsidies. But such a sum, which is only the price of 15 liters of gasoline, is nothing more than a half-hearted token gesture to the people and their demands.
