Iran’s national protests have entered their 11th day, with thousands of people taking to the streets from the capital Tehran to Mashhad, chanting slogans! Even the military and police cannot stop them! How much time is left for Ayatollah Khamenei?
On January 7th, protests in Iran continued to escalate. Let’s take a look at the scenes of protests in the capital Tehran, as seen from above, where crowds of people flooded the narrow streets like a tide. Yellow taxis were trapped in the crowd, unable to move. Protesters raised banners and chanted slogans like “Javid Shah” (Long live the King), their voices echoing across the city, making Ayatollah Khamenei feel the anger of the Iranian people.
In another scene in Bojnourd, a large number of people marched during the day along the streets. The crowd was so large that the head and tail of the demonstration could not be seen. These protesters were spirited, continuously shouting slogans that could be heard even from standing on the upper floors.
Another daytime video shows protesters in Bojnourd continuing to move forward, with a few policemen in front of the procession unable to do much but follow along.
Surprisingly in this protest movement, scenes of support from the military and police emerged. Currently, we have footage from Bojnourd showing police waving to the crowd and then retreating.
Iran’s protests have now entered the 11th day and have been steadily escalating, with demonstrations growing in size compared to before. On January 7th, market vendors in 28 cities nationwide in Iran went on strike, with vendors in the second-largest city, Isfahan, joining the strike for the first time. Over 100 cities across the country have held marches, with workers at the Pars oil refinery in the south also going on strike. Whether this strike will eventually spread to Iran’s oil industry remains to be seen.
So far, the Iranian authorities’ crackdown has resulted in 35 protester deaths, with the actual death toll possibly higher. The exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi continues to urge people to participate in nationwide protests through his Instagram posts, with nearly 70 million views.
The number of protesters is so large that they cannot be completely detained, and even when faced with them, the authorities had to retreat. Let’s take a look at footage from Mashhad. Mashhad is the second-largest city in Iran with a population of over 3 million. The footage shows heavily-armed Basij militia being driven back by a large crowd, some even throwing stones at the Iranian military and police. The security forces were eventually forced to flee, leaving their equipment behind to be smashed by angry protesters.
Moving forward, let’s take a closer look at the specific situations in various cities in Iran, starting with the capital Tehran. On January 7th in Tehran’s Saal district, young people supportive of Pahlavi took to the streets, occupying public places and continuously chanting “Death to Khamenei, Death to the Dictator.” Objects were being burned on the streets, and the atmosphere was extremely intense.
In another video from Tehran, a large number of people wearing masks were seen protesting on the streets at night, joining the demonstration.
In a video from January 6th, protesters in Tehran’s downtown were seen attempting to block major streets with debris.
Let’s move to the central city of Shiraz in Iran. In a daytime video, protesters in the city set up barricades on multiple streets to prevent military and police repression, with items being burned, but it’s unclear what exactly they were.
In another video from daytime on January 7th, a truck loaded with large stones arrived at the protest scene in Shiraz. These stones were used to block the streets, dumped on the road to deter the Islamic Revolutionary Guards.
Later that night, a video circulated online showing the military in Shiraz clearing the obstacles set up on the streets, with gunshots heard. We could see numerous Iranian military and police officers on motorcycles advancing, with no protesters in sight.
The protests in Iran have spread nationwide. In another video, protests erupted at the important southern port of Bandar Abbas. A video shot later in Bandar Abbas shows a large number of military and police officers riding motorcycles, but when faced with the countless demonstrators, they could do little but retreat in disarray.
In a video shot on January 7th during the day in Bandar Abbas, a large crowd chanted, “This is the year of bloodshed, Sayyid Ali will be overthrown.”
In Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city, a large number of Iranian citizens took to the streets in protest, holding up their phones and chanting slogans.
Some angry citizens even tore down and tore apart the huge Islamic State flag in the sky. This act showcased how furious the local people are towards the Islamic regime. Such scenes, undoubtedly, must have been very satisfying for many viewers.
A report surfaced on January 7th that protesters had reportedly taken control of the city of Karaj during the night. The footage we see now is from that city, showing numerous Iranian demonstrators on the streets, even toppling a statue of Suleimani and setting it on fire.
Let’s move to Abhar in Zanjan Province, where local protesters took to the streets chanting slogans demanding the overthrow of the Islamic regime. Abhar has a population of over 200,000 people and is a small city.
In another city, Chelan, residents took to the streets at night, retook control of the streets, and destroyed some statues associated with the ideology of the Islamic regime.
Moving to another city, Sabzevar in Iran, a large crowd took to the streets chanting, “This is the final battle, the Pahlavi dynasty will return.”
Some citizens even launched attacks on certain government institutions. The current footage reportedly from Borujerd shows residents storming the local base of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Another video emerged from the western region of Iran, dominated by the Kurdish community, in Ilam Province. The report suggests that protesters have taken full control of two towns in that area, Abadan and another town, shouting slogans such as “Down with Khamenei” and “Down with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.” In some areas, even some militia fighters laid down their arms and declared defection. Ilam Province is located in western Iran, near the Iraqi border, with Abadan having a population of only sixty thousand people.
During the night, several videos circulated online from Abadan, showing a massive number of protesters, the crowd extending as far as the eye can see, indicating that the entire city’s populace was out on the streets protesting. These scenes clearly illustrate how passionate the public sentiment in Iran is, not just a few individuals or small groups, but the entire nation, fed up with the misdeeds of the Islamic regime over the past forty-plus years.
Iran is a vast country, but in the past day or two, almost all cities in Iran have seen protests of varying scales, with large crowds taking to the streets. Of course, the situation varies in each region. Near the Iraq border, reports suggest that locals have taken control of two small towns, whereas in major cities such as Tehran, Shiraz, Mashhad, and Bandar Abbas, Iran has deployed numerous military and police forces in an attempt to disperse and control the situation. We have also witnessed many scenes where these forces, facing tens of thousands of angry protesters, were unable to control the situation, only retreating continuously.
There is a stark difference between Iran’s current protests and China’s Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. For a significant period, the Chinese Communist Party did not crack down and even some government bodies participated in the demonstrations. However, the situation in Iran is different, as the military and police forces began suppressing the activities within the first week, but with little effect. The protests and demonstrations have continued to spread throughout the country. To date, reports of dozens of protester casualties have surfaced, yet the Iranian people remain undaunted, continuing to march on the streets. This indicates that the current Islamic regime in Iran may be losing control.
Furthermore, behind Iran, there is always Israel closely monitoring the situation. In recent days, there have been images of radar trucks operating on the streets of Iran, indicating that the Islamic regime not only had to worry about domestic demonstrations but also possible military actions from Israel. Under the current wave of public anger, if the Israeli Air Force were to take action by attacking crucial bases of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Guard might as well join the protest march. It seems apparent that the time left for the Khamenei regime is running out.