Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards have been deployed in three provinces in Iran to quash anti-government protests as the eighth day of popular protests in as many as 40 cities begins, with a death toll that has surpassed 45, according to mostly Twitter reports from a large variety of sources in country.
One Twitter account, “Iranian Revolution,” on Wednesday evening reported: “47 Died today in Masjid Suliman city. Please retweet and show the world what is happening.”
Activist Armin Navabi tweeted on Tuesday: “13-year-old Armin Sadeghi was shot and killed during protests in Iran. Woman: ‘God! Who should I tell? For what? He’s just a kid. What does he know? Oh God!’ Man: ‘I asked, Armin, do you have an exam tomorrow? I turned around, and I saw his head was facing down.'”
A girl from explains: “I was a Basiji (Islamic Revolutionary Guard), till I realized it’s the same as ISIS. I burn my [membership] card. I ask all Basijis to join the people. How long do you want to tolerate this hardship? Long live freedom. Long live Iran.” pic.twitter.com/91ZpvmM0FB
— Armin Navabi (@ArminNavabi)
In reaction to the mounting force of the protests, Revolutionary Guards commander, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, announced that he had dispatched forces to Hamadan, Isfahan and Lorestan provinces, to put down “the new sedition.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is an arm of the Iranian Armed forces which the constitution designates to protect the country’s Islamic Republic system. The Revolutionary Guards have roughly 125,000 military personnel including ground, aerospace and naval forces, and it also controls the paramilitary Basij militia which has about 90,000 active personnel.
The IRGC and the Basij in 2009 suppressed the uprising over election fraud, killing dozens of mainly protesters in the streets.
Maryam Rajavi, an Iranian exile who is high on the Iranian Government’s wanted list, has positioned herself as a leader of the Iranian resistance, in her role as the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). On Wednesday, she issued a statement saying, “the uprising in Iran will continue until the overthrow of the regime and bring about democracy.” She told her followers that “justice and prosperity, democracy and free elections are achieved only through such a path.”
Rajavi posted a video on her own website, addressing the “courageous sons and daughters of Iran,” and suggesting that “Khamenei and his cohorts take resort in threatening you […] They mobilize their military forces to counter the Iranian people’s nationwide uprising. […] Behind such threats, however, the regime is twisting and turning out of enormous fear. Despite its hollow show of force, the clerical regime is just a paper tiger and will not withstand your uprising. Because you are the decisive power. You are countless and your numbers grow every day.”
“When you get sincerely united and join hands, your solid resolve will overcome any power,” Rajavi promised. “The mullahs think they can contain your upheaval and stop its expansion by blocking the internet services and social media. But they do not know and cannot understand that it is your common pain and suffering that bonds your hearts and spreads the message everywhere. And this is how the cities rise up one after the other.”
“I call on all my fellow compatriots to rise up and join the roaring tide of freedom lovers across the country,” she said.
Iranian President Rouhani reflected the growing anxiety of the regime regarding the growing and galvanizing opposition forces in a message he reportedly sent French President Macron, saying, “We criticize the fact that a terrorist group has a base in France and acts against the Iranian people and encourages violence. We expect the French government to act against this terrorist group.”
In 2003, Maryam Rajavi was arrested by Paris Police on suspicion she was “preparing to commit or finance acts of terrorism.” She and 23 followers were placed under investigation for money laundering, which lost momentum over the years, until, in 2014, all the charges against her were dropped.