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\nNCRI – Paranoid mullahs ruling in Iran who fear that the Iranian people use the Chaharshanbe-Suri (fire festival on eve of the last Wednesday of the year in the Persian calendar) to stage popular protests against the religious dictatorship, have resorted to extensive repressive military and security measures across the country, particularly in the country\u2019s capital city, Tehran.<\/p>\n
Referring to the fire festival which marks the beginning of New Year or Nowruz (March 21) celebrations in Iran, a senior cleric described participation in the event as \u2018religiously forbidden and warned people about \u2018crossing God\u2019s redlines\u2019.<\/p>\n
Ahmad Khatami, a member of the regime\u2019s Assembly of Experts, said: \u201cFrom a legal viewpoint, these fire plays are a transgression on others\u2019 rights. Likewise, from a Sharia standpoint it is harassment of the believers and is religiously forbidden.\u201d He threatened that \u201ccrossing God\u2019s redlines is not joyous, but wipes away the joy\u201d.<\/p>\n
A senior Iranian police commander, Taqi Mehri, the Crime Prevention Police Chief was quoted on February 22 by state-run Asriran: \u201cHolding gatherings for the Fire Festival has been forbidden and is not permitted.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cAs per previous years and according to the law, this year too, the security forces will confront those\u2026 who attempt to block the main passages.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another official was quoted by an IRGC affiliated website on March 13: \u201cRegretfully, in recent years, the Fire Festival has diverged from its traditional nature and has turned violent.\u201d<\/p>\n
The commander of police in the Kerman Province, Brigadier General Hossein Chenarian emphasized the implementation of special security measures and said: \u201cThe security forces will harshly treat the vendors of firecrackers and those who disrupt the tranquility of the people during the last days of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calling the protestors \u201cthugs and hoodlums\u201d he said on March 10: \u201cThe security forces will persistently monitor the identified thugs and hoodlums.\u201d<\/p>\n
He threatened that, to provide security in the days of Nowruz holiday, those who are arrested during these days will be detained until the last day of holidays.<\/p>\n
These repressive measures are adopted while a call by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK) on February 26 to turn the Fire Festival into an uprising and protest against the clerical regime has been greatly welcomed nationwide further frightening the regime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NCRI – Paranoid mullahs ruling in Iran who fear that the Iranian people use the Chaharshanbe-Suri (fire festival on eve of the last Wednesday of the year in the Persian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[175],"class_list":{"0":"post-18083","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran-resistance","8":"tag-updated"},"yoast_head":"\n