On Sunday, December 18, 2022, citizens from different walks of life continued the revolution across Iran. In a prominent act of solidarity with Iranian protesters, several U.S. dignitaries attended a conference hosted by Iranian American Communities on December 17. As the event’s keynote speaker, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, called on western governments to recognize the Iranian people’s will to overthrow the regime.

“The current uprising in Iran is one of the world’s most important developments in 2022. These uprisings will certainly lead to the overthrow of the religious tyranny that will shake the world,” Mrs. Rajavi said. “During this period, the regime killed more than 700 protesters in the streets and arrested at least 30,000 people.”

“The time has come for the United States to recognize the legitimacy of the fight of the Iranian youths against this evil and terrorist force. The US should officially recognize the Iranian people’s Revolution to establish a republic based on democratic values,” she added. “Embassies and institutions affiliated with the regime that provides support for repression inside Iran must be shut down. Any form of negotiation and making concessions to the criminal rulers of Iran should be stopped.”

former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also was another keynote speaker at this event,  he said I want to begin by recognizing president-elect Maryam Rajavi and her leadership of the National Council of Resistance of Iran which is laying the groundwork for a free sovereign and democratic republic in Iran. Freedom is absolutely on the march, and all of us need to come together and speak with a single voice that the Iranian people deserve their basic freedom—it’s what they’re demanding.

The Resistance Units in Iran, those noble Iranian patriots, were strong as they had ever been. Their optimism was increased, and justifiably so. The people inside the country knew they had an administration that supported them… It’s remarkable, too, to note [Iranian protesters] are not calling for simple reforms. They’re calling for freedom. They’re calling for a regime that fundamentally treats its citizens in different ways. They want a democratic, secular, and free republic.

Tehran wants to discredit the protesters by painting them as driven by foreign agitators. It is not so. They’re saying that they are advocating for the return of others of other dictatorships; this is not so either. They want freedom, Mr. Pompeo added. Three months of powerful unyielding protests and uprisings don’t happen randomly. They’re not the product of foreign meddling. The regime loves to lie and say that it is so. These protests are the result of 40 years of organized opposition.

Mrs. Rajavi has put forth a ten-point plan for the future of Iran, which is governed by the rule of law, which is so fundamental to a free and just society. And this plan has been endorsed by more than 250 Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress, said former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke. The people of Iran have paid a heavy price in their resistance against Shah and the current regime. Never can there be a return to such a dictatorship. The international community must stand with the Iranian people in their historic struggle for democracy.

Maryam Rajavi is leading the resistance, and her leadership, I think, is all the more important because she’s a woman. One of the things that this regime has made clear from the very beginning is that if you can repress the women in a society, you will control that society. Well, we say no to that, said former U.S. White House director of Public Liaison Linda Chavez.

We must pursue a policy that says if you are going to punish your people, we are going to punish your regime. It is not possible to negotiate with these thugs. We must pursue a policy that says if you are going to punish your people, we are going to punish your regime. Madam Rajavi’s ten-point plan can be and should be the model for a future Iran.

The days of this regime are numbered and will soon be over. What you see is an organized resistance that is broad-based, that’s diversified, that’s unified, that’s powerful, and will not quit. This is a resistance that is going to win, said former U.S. Senator and Governor of Kansas Ambassador Sam Brownback. We need to support the Iranian people. We need to recognize their right to overthrow the dictatorship.

The people are yearning for human dignity. The people want to exercise personal freedom and personal choice. The people want democracy. After 41-plus years the people know that the government is not capable of making any fundamental change. The people must change the government, said former Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army General Jack Keane. The people want democracy, not the mullahs’ brutal theocracy and not the Shah’s authoritarian rule. The people, led by Maryam Rajavi on true democracy. This has been a long journey for four decades.

The Iranian people much like the Ukrainian people who are also fighting for their freedom have shown the world that the current regime in Iran has no legitimacy. It has no support from the people. The Iranian people are showing the world that they are willing to put at risk everything that they care about in their lives to fight for freedom. We in the United States who live every day in freedom and who also fought to get the freedom to stand strong with the people of Iran.

December 18 marked the 94th day of anti-regime protests in Iran. The demonstrations began following the heinous murder of Mahsa Amini, 22, in police custody. However, it immediately turned into a revolution against the entire theocratic regime.

According to the Iranian opposition Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK/PMOI), the protests have extended to 282 cities. The regime has killed over 700 citizens, injured tens of thousands, and detained more than 30,000. The MEK has published the names of 596 killed protesters.

Follow the Day-by-Day Report of the Iran Revolution 2022…

Key Developments:

  • Protesters attacked Revolutionary Guards Basij bases in Tehran and Bushehr and the municipality office in Bandar Abbas with Molotov cocktails.
  • Following the officials’ decision to transfer an inmate to solitary confinement in Qaemshahr prison, Mazandaran province, other prisoners launched a riot to spare their cellmate’s life. Security forces reportedly shot at prisoners with live ammo. Prisoners in Karaj Central Prison also rioted yesterday for the same reason. One inmate was killed, and over 50 were injured following the authorities’ attack.
  • The regime’s official news agency IRNA reported that at least four regime-backed mullahs were admitted by the Qom Medical Sciences University’s affiliated clinics due to injuries from sharp things.
  • Freedom-loving Iranians rallied and held exhibitions in the U.S., Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, and other countries, supporting the ongoing revolution in Iran and condemning the regime’s human rights violations and executions.
  • “It is important that we do not abandon the people of Iran who are fighting so bravely. That’s why we met yesterday in Bonn,” said German MP Norbert Röttgen. “As a sign of our solidarity in a historical situation: because what we are experiencing in Iran is a revolution. Everything is at stake now!”
  • “At least 28 people, including three children, could face execution in connection with nationwide protests as the Iranian authorities use the death penalty as a tool of political repression to instill fear among the public and end the popular uprising,” stated Amnesty International.

Tehran Province:

Protesters torched the entrance of the home of a local regime agent who provides information about protesters to the regime’s authorities and security units. Source

Protesters used Molotov cocktails in their attack targeting an IRGC paramilitary Basij base in the capital’s Sabalan district. Source

Follow more updates on protests in Tehran

Kermanshah Province:

Protesters are chanting: “Death to Khamenei!” Source

Ilam Province:

Workers of the Dehloran Cement Company launched a strike outside the firm’s entrance, protesting company officials’ refusal to address their demands. Source

Zanjan Province:

A billboard reading “We are ready for a winter operation” was changed by local protesters to “We are ready for a winter revolution.” Source

Bushehr Province:

Local protesters attacked an IRGC paramilitary Basij base using explosives. Source

Fars Province:

Students at the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences boycotted their classes and began chanting: “Political prisoners must be released!” Source

Follow more updates on day 94 of the protests