WASHINGTON: Exiled members of the Iranian opposition movement demanded on Wednesday that the West increase pressure on Tehran as anti-regime protests continued across the country for the second month in a row.
Iran's National Resistance Council suggested that Western countries order the closure of all Iranian embassies and impose more stringent sanctions against the regime during a briefing in Washington covering Arab News.
The current widespread protest began soon after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained by the police on 16 September. Three days ago, she was detained by the so-called ethics police for breaking the strict dress code for women.
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It is generally accepted that he died by beating the officers. The Iranian government disputes this, but angry citizens disagree and have been protesting in the streets for weeks. As a result, the security forces launched a brutal crackdown in which many people were killed, injured and detained.
After the overthrow of the pro-Western Shah in a revolution in 1979, Iran has been ruled by its religious establishment. Women in the nation are required to comply with government regulations regarding wearing western-style clothing, dressing decently and covering their hair with a hijab in public.
According to NCRI's US representative Suna Samsamy, the current protests, which have outpaced all others since 2017, are mainly led by women and young Iranians, who demand the overthrow of the regime.
According to him, there are signs of an imminent revolution in what is happening in Iran now. We have reached a historic juncture where fear of the people is waning and fear of governance is rampant – a point beyond which there is no turning back.
Samsami urged solidarity against the Iranian government by closing Iranian embassies around the world and expelling Iranian diplomats. Additionally, he urged the US and the European Union to support the Iranian people and their "democratic revolution in Iran".
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This month, US Vice President Joe Biden criticized the Iranian government for suppressing peaceful protesters during the recent unrest and demanded that fundamental human rights be upheld with human dignity. He continued by saying that the US stands with Iranian women and all its citizens.
According to Biden, the aspirations of future generations have been suppressed by the Iranian regime through decades of intimidation, coercion and violence.
Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi has accused his US counterpart of trying to destabilize Iran by provoking opposition to the Iranian regime under the guise of human rights.
"The US President's remarks in support of anarchy, terror and insecurity in Iran falsify the claim to protect human rights, security and peace and give meaning to the title of Great Satan," he said.
During the briefing on Wednesday, Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the NCRI's Washington office, discussed the efforts being made by Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to suppress the ongoing protests and prevent them from spreading.
He claimed that Basij, a paramilitary volunteer militia, and plainclothes IRGC "use maximum brutality and brutality to beat up the protesters and seriously injure them."
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One of their tactics is beating protesters on the head or breaking their limbs, effectively ending their participation in the demonstrations.
In addition, Zafarzadeh claimed that Iranian military forces killed several prisoners at the infamous Avin Prison who had demonstrated against the government. He described the incident as a "crime against humanity".
"On October 15, 2022, IRGC special forces guarding the Supreme Leader attacked Avin Prison and killed 30 to 40 prisoners," he said. The attack on the prisoners was pre-planned. Some prisoners were thrown from the roof by the vicious guards.
According to a representative of the Iranian government, the prisoners died from "smoke inhalation" caused by prison fires "committed by several enemy agents".