INCREDIBLE: Freedom Protests Spread Across Iran, “We don’t want an Islamic Republic” “Death to Rouhani” “Long Live Reza Shah” #FreeIran

This is a historic moment. Thank heaven we have a President we stands for freedom and individual rights. Thanks to Obama, the Iranian people who marched for freedom were routed, raped defeated en masse. Seven more years of crushing oppression followed. I believe the election of President Trump empowered the people.

Amir Taheri said, “A remarkable feature of current situation in Iran is that more and more security units refuse to attack protesters as they did in 2009. This may change but feeling at the moment is that mullahs might find it hard to persuade their gunmen to kill unarmed protesters as before.”

Moments ago, the people of city of Rasht besieged the Islamic Republic’s repressive forces (thanks to Amil Imani):

مردم #رشت نیروهای سرکوبگر را در خیابان حاجی آباد محاصره کرده اند. #تظاهرات_سراسری pic.twitter.com/53789em8CC

— گیلدخت (@Azrahedoorr) December 29, 2017

EXCEPTIONAL: “We don’t want an Islamic Republic” & “Death to Rouhani” chanted today in Qom, the clerical regime’s heartland – via MEK activists in #Iran. Today is Day 2 of anti-regime protests in major cities against price hikes & economic mismanagement. #FreeIran #No2Rouhani pic.twitter.com/xE6zoaxiak

— M. Hanif Jazayeri (@HanifJazayeri) December 29, 2017

“We don’t want an Islamic Republic” and “Death to Rouhani” chanted today in Qom.

If the people rise up, Trump will stand them. This is history.

“Protesters in Iran chant “Reza Shah, Bless Your Soul” – referring to Reza Shah the Great, the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, the nemesis of the clerics, the modernizer of Iran,” Potkin Azarmehr

A remarkable feature of current situationi n Iran is that more and more security units refuse to attack protesters as they did in 2009. This may change but feeling at the moment is that mullahs might find it hard to persuade their gunmen to kill unarmed protesters as before.

— Amir Taheri (@AmirTaheri4) December 29, 2017

OPINION — Protestors Back on the Streets of Iran https://t.co/NIRRkuzVCZ

— Vocal Europe (@thevocaleurope) December 29, 2017

Let’s be clear. These protests are no longer about just economic woes. This has evolved into a revolutionary call for regime change. There’s no way to downplay the fact that thousands of people are publicly praising the Shah and calling for the ousting of the mullahs. #Iran

— Joshua Yasmeh (@JoshYaz) December 29, 2017

Street Protests In Iran, Dozens Reportedly Arrested

Radio Farda, December 29, 2017:

Thousands of people poured into the streets in the northeastern city of Mashhad on Thursday protesting rising prices and the general failure of the Islamic Republic in creating jobs, fighting corruption and providing a minimal degree of welfare.

Thanks to social media hundreds of video clips and photos were posted online of angry protesters chanting anti-government slogans.

“Death to the dictator”, “Death to [Hassan] Rouhani”, “Don’t be afraid, we are together”, “Not Gaza, nor Lebanon, my life for Iran” were reportedly among the slogans.

During the street protests in 2009, “Death to the dictator” was generally perceived as directed at Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

There have been many single-issue protests recently in Iran, but this latest outburst in Mashhad were more reminiscent of the anti-regime protests of eight years ago than workers strikes or smaller gatherings of cheated bank depositors.

According to some opposition sources hundreds of people were detained by security forces during the demonstrations, but an official of Mashhad’s prosecutor’s office put the number of at 52.

Security forces used water cannons and teargas to confront and disperse the crowds, which led to clashes and injuries.

In addition to Mashhad, there were smaller protests in a few other cities including Birjand, Kashmar, Noushahr, Neyshabour and Yazd.

In some of the clips posted on social media, demonstrators are heard chanting slogans lauding the pre-revolution era.

“Long live Reza Shah”, a reference to the first Pahlavi king who is deemed as the architect of modern Iran. Reza Shah was also well-known for his secular politics. Another slogan was “Iran haphazard, without the Shah”, apparently referring to the late king of Iran, Mohammadreza Shah Pahlavi, who was forced into exile in 1979 giving way to the the rise of a theocracy in Iran.

Mashhad is the second most populous city in Iran after the capital city Tehran. It is also home to the holiest site in Iran, the shrine of Imam Reza, the eighth Shi’ia Imam.

Protest this evening in Shiraz, Iran. “The mullah must get lost.” pic.twitter.com/1FPE2gdl7I

— Borzou Daragahi (@borzou) December 29, 2017