The Fire Festival is held in the evening of the last Tuesday of the Persian year. People jump over bonfires and use firecrackers as they welcome the arrival of the New Year. The Iranian regime has been against this tradition for the 37 years that it has been in power.

Celebrating the Fire Festival by the political prisoners was a courageous act where prisoners in a ward in Gohardasht Prison put up a bonfire and jumped over it as an Iranian tradition.

The political prisoners chanted anti-establishment slogans of “set fire to the ward and to handcuffs”, “set fire to tyranny”, “set fire to the ill faith regime”, “set fire more than before” and “set fire to the principle of velayat-e faqih” (or absolute clerical rule).

They also chanted: “death to the principle of velayat-e faqih and long live freedom”.

According to the velayat-e faqih principle, the supreme leader Ali Khamenei controls all affairs in Iran and also leads the people. Moreover, according to regime’s constitution, the three branches of government function under the supervision of the supreme leader and he personally approves the heads of the judiciary and legislative branches.