On January 7, Iranian citizens from different walks of life held rallies and strikes to achieve their inherent rights. During their protests, the people openly blamed the regime’s profiteering and plundering policies, which bring more poverty and misery for the people.

Iranians Continue Protests; at Least Four Rallies and Strikes on January 7

In this respect, preschool educators, unemployed youths, families of Ukrainian airliner’s victims, and livestock farmers held at least four rallies.

Rally of Preschool Educators
Rally of Preschool Educators

Rally of Preschool Educators

Khuzestan province—in Izeh county, preschool educators once again held a rally, demanding their basic rights. In the past two years, the educators have time and again protested officials’ failure to pay their insurance rights. “After two years, the government still refuses to pay our insurance rights and we have yet to gain any achievement,” an educator said.

Along with preschool educators, many teachers and members of the Literacy Movement have recently raised their voices to obtain their fundamental rights. Despite these people’s suffering and hardworking, the education department refuses to hire these people officially.

On January 6, teachers from different counties of Khuzestan province held a gathering in front of the local education department. These teachers are affiliated to the Literacy Movement, and they urged the Education Ministry to clarify their job conditions and recruit them officially.

Furthermore, on January 3, contract teachers rallied in front of Yazd Provincial Governorate, protesting their job conditions. Notably, a day earlier, Provincial Governor Mohammad Ali Talebi had claimed that contract teachers’ dilemmas have been resolved.

Rally of Unemployed Youths
Rally of Unemployed Youths

Rally of Unemployed Youths

Khuzestan province—unemployed youths of Behbahan county once again staged a rally in front of the second gate of Bidboland Refinery. These young men are from Sharrouei village and demand officials recruit them.

In recent weeks, these youth held several rallies at the place. However, the officials and the refinery’s managing board did not pay attention to locals’ desires. “While indigenous forces scramble with unemployment, the managing board recruits non-native workers,” youths said.

Notably, Khuzestan, as Iran’s oil-rich province, possesses huge capacities for recruiting locals. However, due to the regime’s profiteering and plundering policies and nepotism, many youths are unemployed and many people struggle hard to make ends meet.

Families of Ukrainian airliner's victims held a commemorating ceremony for their loved ones
Families of Ukrainian airliner’s victims held a commemorating ceremony for their loved ones

Rally of Families of Ukrainian Airliner’s Victims

Tehran province—on the eve of the first anniversary of downing the PS752 Flight of the Ukrainian International Airlines, the families of victims intended to commemorate the memory of their loved ones.

The regime initially banned families from attending the Shadshahr district, where the plane had crashed. However, oppressive forces could no longer resist against grieving families’ insistence and eventually let them participate in Shadshahr.

Following the killing of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force, on January 3, 2020, Iranian authorities publicly vowed to take harsh revenge. In this respect, three days later, they launch an unconfirmed number of missiles against the Ain al-Assad barrack, an Iraqi base hosting U.S. troops.

Later, Iraqi sources reported that the Iranian regime has indirectly acknowledged the U.S. In this respect, the regime’s harsh revenge left no casualties among Americans. Instead, the IRGC air-defense system shot down a Ukrainian civil jetliner, leading to the death of all 176 passengers and crew on board.

Iranian officials and armed forces commanders initially rejected the Iranian military forces’ involvement in the incident. However, reliable evidence and documents proved that an IRGC air-defense system had downed the plane.

Finally, on January 11, IRGC Aerospace commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh admitted to the IRGC’s role. Furthermore, he revealed that he had informed his superiors about the IRGC’s role several hours after the plane crash. Nonetheless, the regime dealt with the world and mourning families with secrecy and non-transparency.

Rally of Families of Ukrainian Airliner's Victims
Rally of Families of Ukrainian Airliner’s Victims

Following Hajizadeh’s admission, many students and outraged people flooded onto the streets in Tehran and several other provinces. They bluntly condemned the regime’s crime and secrecy. Protesters also vented their anger against the entire regime and its officials, including the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani, and former IRGC-QF commander Qassem Soleimani.

“Death to the liar” and “death to the dictator,” protesters chanted against Rouhani and Khamenei. Moreover, angry people chanted slogans against the IRGC and Khamenei. “Commander-in-chief [Ali Khamenei], resign, resign,” “[Qassem] Soleimani was a murderer, as is his leader [Khamenei],” “IRGC, Basij [paramilitary force affiliated to the IRGC], you are our ISIS,” protesters chanted. They tore down and burned banners of Khamenei and Soleimani.

Since then, Canadian and Ukrainian governments have repeatedly called on the mullahs to launch an impartial investigation. However, Iranian authorities neither began nor let other countries to access details of the case to launch independent investigations. Any fair proceeding trial would likely show the role of the regime’s high-ranking officials in this crime, which would contribute to another global scandal for the regime and its supporters in the West.

Rally of Livestock Farmers
Rally of Livestock Farmers

Rally of Livestock Farmers

Isfahan province—livestock farmers of Golpayegan county held a rally in the street leading to the Provincial Governorate. They protested the shortage of livestock feed and its inappropriate distribution. Fearing the outraged protesters, the Governor refused to deal with farmers. On the other hand, his agents tried to shut down reporters’ cameras, deterring of spreading the news.

Due to the IRGC’s domination of the livestock and poultry industries, many farmers face massive disadvantages. In this respect, even though the existence of a huge amount of feed in ports controlled by the IRGC and Bonyad-e Shahid [Martyr Foundation], they do not release the feed to keep the market balance.

On the other hand, in early September, Iranian state-run media revealed that the regime-backed mafia is behind cutting the people’s food basket and remove meat from their menu.

“In recent months, every now and then one of the food items overtakes other products in a dramatic increase in prices. One day its eggs, another day its cheese and dairy, and now meat,” wrote ShahrAra website.

Meanwhile, in August, poultry farmers had to eliminate around 16 million chicks while many citizens have yet to eat any kind of meat for months. The event severely shocked society and prompted public hatred against the regime’s profiteering policies.