Acts of defiance target IRGC and Basij centers; Resistance Units in Zahedan reject both monarchy and theocracy in favor of a democratic republic

In a powerful display of defiance, Iran’s rebellious youth and members of the Resistance Units carried out bold actions on August 21 and 22, 2025, targeting the regime’s repressive institutions and amplifying the voice of a nation that refuses to accept dictatorship in any form.

Protesters set fire to Khomeini poster in Mashhad | Iran protests

On Thursday, August 21, heroic youth across Iran struck directly at the centers of oppression and crime belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its paramilitary Basij militia.

These actions came in response to the regime’s desecration of the graves of thousands of martyrs from the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Section 41 of Tehran’s Behesht-e Zahra cemetery, an act ordered by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

IRGC Basij signpost torched in Sanandaj | Iran protests

The operations included:

  • Setting fire to IRGC Basij bases in Tehran, Mashhad, Urmia, and Kerman.
  • Striking at a center of fundamentalism in Mashhad and a Basij resistance base in Sib Suran (Sistan and Baluchestan province).
  • Burning the sign of IRGC Square in Kazerun, as well as signboards of the regime’s espionage headquarters in Isfahan and Sistan and Baluchestan.
  • Torchings of regime propaganda banners displaying images of Ruhollah Khomeini, Ali Khamenei, Qassem Soleimani, and other IRGC commanders in Tehran, Mashhad, Kerman, Shahrekord, Delijan, Saravan, and Mehrestan.

These coordinated actions struck at the heart of the regime’s machinery of repression, underscoring that the Iranian people are unwilling to bow to the clerical dictatorship’s campaign of fear and intimidation.

The following day, Friday, August 22, the streets of Zahedan once again echoed with the defiant spirit of Iran’s Resistance. Members of the PMOI’s Resistance Units organized protest activities and disseminated messages that delivered a resounding rejection of both the ruling theocracy and the deposed monarchy.

Slogans posted throughout the city made clear the people’s historical awareness and determination:

  • “Down with the oppressor, be it the Shah or Supreme Leader.”
  • “We want neither Shah nor mullah—curse them both.”
  • “Monarchy and theocracy—one hundred years of crime.”

The Resistance Units also directly challenged the Shah’s son and his recent manifesto, exposing it as a thinly veiled plan for dictatorship. One slogan declared: “The essence of the Shah’s son’s plan and his manifesto is, in a word, dictatorship and rejection of independence.” Another warned: “The Shah’s son’s fantasies are to repeat history and return to a despotic and colonial past.”

By denouncing both forms of tyranny, the activists highlighted the Third Option championed by the Iranian Resistance: rejecting appeasement of the mullahs and foreign intervention, while empowering the Iranian people themselves to bring about democratic change. Messages such as “Maryam Rajavi provides the real solution for the regime’s overthrow by the people and the Iranian Resistance” and “The solution for regime change is in the hands of the people and the Iranian Resistance” pointed to the organized alternative that has endured through 60 years of struggle and sacrifice.

The Resistance Units emphasized that this struggle is not about replacing one despot with another but about securing a genuine democratic republic. Their slogans affirmed the central principle of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI): “The goal is not to gain power, but to transfer it to the Iranian people.”

The defiant actions in Tehran, Mashhad, Zahedan, and across Iran demonstrate a growing determination to ensure that the sacrifices of past and present generations will not be hijacked again. The Iranian people have made clear that their struggle is for freedom, justice, and a future where power belongs solely to the people.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR