![\"reopening\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/reopening.jpg\" "\\"reopening\\"")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
As the Iranian regime\u2019s president Hassan Rouhani had previously ordered<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0religious sites<\/span>\u00a0in Iran<\/span>\u00a0were\u00a0<\/span>re<\/span>opened today.\u00a0<\/span>This decision which follows the regime\u2019s criminal order of sending people back to work amid the coronavirus outbreak will only result in more casualties.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According<\/a> to the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK)<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>so far 44,000 people have lost their lives due to the coronavirus.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When the virus\u00a0<\/span>was first detected in the city of Qom,\u00a0<\/span>where the holy Shrine<\/a> of\u00a0<\/span>Masoumeh<\/span>\u00a0(sister of\u00a0<\/span>8<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0Shiite Imam, Reza who is also buried in Mashhad<\/span>, Iran<\/span>)<\/span>\u00a0is located, by refusing to close this holy shrine and other religious sites,\u00a0<\/span>the regime, along with its cover-up, caused the virus to rapidly spread across the city and subsequently across Iran.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n #Iran<\/a>\u2019s Regime Desperate yet Criminal Decision to Reopen Religious Sites and Sermons Amid Coronavirus #Outbreak<\/a> The regime intends to use religious sites for political purposes & to financially take advantage of worshipers at the expense of people\u2019s liveshttps:\/\/t.co\/5eg5ZwDjyB<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 27, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The regime\u2019s decision to send\u00a0<\/span>people back to work was more a political decision than an economic one. Since<\/span>\u00a0quarantining people without financially backing them was resulting in more people joining the army of\u00a0<\/span>starving people\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>the possibility of a nationwide uprising due to the economic hardships was looming, the regime forced people back to work<\/span>\u00a0to\u00a0<\/span>avoid this threat to its existence.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Now the reopening of religious sites is also a political decision. Since the 1979 anti-monarchic\u00a0<\/span>revolution<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the mullahs\u2019 regime, by misusing Islam, has used religious sites to promote its reactionary\u00a0<\/span>and medieval interpretation of\u00a0<\/span>Islam, manipulating people by using their religious sentiments to plunder more money<\/span>\u00a0under the pretext of taking endowments<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and<\/span>\u00a0a political tribune<\/span>. I<\/span>t has particularly used mosques as centers of espionage and\u00a0<\/span>oppression<\/span>; and to mobilize its forces.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>M<\/span>osques across Iran are mostly the headquarters of paramilitary\u00a0<\/span>Basij<\/span>\u00a0forces<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n By taking endowments<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0the regime has been able to create financial empires\u00a0<\/span>and use them to fund its oppression and terrorism.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Behzad\u00a0<\/span>Nabavi<\/span>, a government minister in several administrations, said in an interview with the state-run Alef news agency on September 21, 2019: \u201cIn our country, there are four institutions which control 60 percent of the national wealth. This includes Executive Headquarters of Imam\u2019s Directive (<\/span>Setad<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Ejraie<\/span>\u00a0Farman Imam<\/span>\u00a0or EIKO<\/span>), Khatam-<\/span>ol<\/span>\u2013<\/span>Anbiya<\/span>\u00a0Base,\u00a0Astan-e Quds and Foundation of the Oppressed and Disabled. None of these institutions are in connection with the government and parliament.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Institutions such as the\u00a0<\/span>A<\/span>stan<\/span>-e\u00a0<\/span>Q<\/span>uds\u00a0<\/span>R<\/span>azavi<\/span><\/a>\u00a0are being only used to finance terrorism. For instance, a large part of\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>institution\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>funds\u00a0<\/span>is dedicated to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC)<\/a> extraterritorial force, the Quds\u00a0<\/a><\/span>Force<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and the family members of dead Quds Force terrorists.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Reopening religious sites will result in more COVID-19 deaths and infections<\/span>, which\u00a0<\/span>will\u00a0<\/span>certainly add to the Iranian society\u2019s explosiveness. Yet the regime is in a deadlock and much like sending people back to work<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0it\u00a0<\/span>has to<\/span>\u00a0reopen religious sites to boost the morale of its forces<\/span>\u00a0and<\/span>\u00a0organize its repressive forces<\/span>\u00a0to confront Iranian people.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In this regard,\u00a0<\/span>Ahmad\u00a0<\/span>Naderi<\/span>, one of the regime\u2019s officials<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0told the state-run\u00a0<\/span>Resalat<\/span>\u00a0daily on March 7: \u201cI am worried about the social and security outcome of this crisis. Soon, rebellions, much larger than the ones in 2018 and 2019 and certainly much larger than the ones in the 1990s, will happen.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the Iranian regime’s president Hassan Rouhani had previously ordered, religious sites in Iran were reopened today. This decision which follows the regime’s criminal order of sending people back to work amid the coronavirus outbreak […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":218753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-218751","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-human-rights"},"yoast_head":"\n\n