By Editors of The Free Iran Herald

Now bringing you daily updates on the events unfolding in Iran

The Khomeiniist regimes alleged that it was starting to slowly restore Internet access to Iran on Thursday, amidst a blackout that experts have described as the most complete Internet blockage ever initiated by a state actor. Ten percent of Iran has regained web access for short periods of time, so far, up from a low of 5%, when only regime officials and some foreign news agencies could go online.

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So far, the areas of Iran that regained access to the web are sections of Tehran, parts of Hormozgan province along the Persian Gulf, and Kermanshah province, bordering Iraq. Iranians who can now get online are uploading videos they took of the carnage of the past few days onto social media. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also asked Iranians to send the State Department their videos, that the US can help in punishing the violators of human rights.

I have asked the Iranian protestors to send us their videos, photos, and information documenting the regime’s crackdown on protestors. The U.S. will expose and sanction the abuses. https://t.co/korr5p0woA — Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) November 21, 2019

At the same time, the Internet blockage in neighboring Iraq has also begun to be lifted. Journalists sympathetic to the Iranian people, such as Eli Lake, had noted the irony of how regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei continued to Tweet, as he deprived the people he tyrannizes over of the same opportunity.

Why is this account still active, when you have banned the internet in Iran. I really hope you live long enough to see the collapse of your regime. https://t.co/dMA2oX826h — Eli Lake (@EliLake) November 19, 2019

Real-time technical data corroborate reports in #Iran news media that some connectivity is being restored, although only partially. At the current time national connectivity has risen further to 10%. Follow our live report for updates on the situation 📰https://t.co/1Al0DT8an1 — NetBlocks.org (@netblocks) November 21, 2019

Confirmed: Social media partially restored in #Iraq after 50 days of filtering amid widespread protests; Twitter, Facebook and Instagram now unblocked with leading fixed-line/wifi provider Earthlink but other restrictions remain in place 📈#IraqProtestshttps://t.co/tmqYifkUKd — NetBlocks.org (@netblocks) November 21, 2019

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It’s an absolute disgrace that the Iranians have been left alone in the streets to be brutally massacred by the favorite regime of the @EU_Commission and Democrats @DNC, while at the same time the mainstream media ignore the massive crime against humanity in Iran.#IranProtests — Amin Vedadi (@AVedadi) November 19, 2019

These moves came after US President Donald Trump made his first public statements on the Iranian protests, expressing his support for the people’s desires for freedom. Vice-President Pence also tweeted in support of the Iranian protests. To back up their statements, a US Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, crossed the Straits of Hormuz, in the Persian Gulf, in a show of strength vis a vis the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Trump’s words were made more noticeable to Iranian activists abroad by a comparison to the fact that none of the leading Democratic candidates for President of the USA chose to mention the Iranian people during their debate last night. Instead, the Democrats continued to stick to the already-failed Obama line of negotiating with the regime, a tactic that Iranians describe as a betrayal of freedom.

Iran has become so unstable that the regime has shut down their entire Internet System so that the Great Iranian people cannot talk about the tremendous violence taking place within the country…. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 21, 2019

In the below tweet VP Pence expressed his support for Iranian protesters.

As Iranians take to the streets in protest, the Ayatollahs in Tehran continue to use violence and imprisonment to oppress their people. The United States’ message is clear: the American people stand with the people of Iran. — Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) November 21, 2019

Responding to the VP’s heartfelt tweet however is a comment by Trita Parsi, the notorious founder of NIAC, which is the Khomeinist regime’s K Street Lobby. Parsi who lives in the comfort of the U.S. has been one of the Islamic regime’s biggest assets in the DC circles and was advisor to the Obama White House, specifically Valerie Jarrett. NIAC (the National Iranian-American Council) however has been widely discredited by Iranians all across the globe and has been exposed as a network of agents advancing Tehran’s agenda throughout Capital Hill.

You’ve sanctioned Iranians into poverty.

You’ve blocked them from visiting the US and treated them all as terrorists.

You’ve destroyed a deal that prevented war & enabled Iranians to reconnect with the world. You’ve done everything in your power to show that you are their enemy. — Trita Parsi (@tparsi) November 21, 2019

Iranian-Americans have also been monitoring the reactions of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) to the protests. Still calling itself a community organization, NIAC has long been exposed as the Khomeiniist lobby organ in Washington, D.C. NIAC’s director, Jamal Abdi, astoundingly claimed that the Internet going offline in Iran was a result of the US sanctions, and not the regime’s actions. Abdi’s remarks read almost word-for-word as quotations from Ali Khamenei’s most recent speech. NIAC has also gone as far as labeling the current revolution against the regime the “Persian Winter.” Iranian human rights activists again took to social media to condemn and expose the NIAC for what it is, and to call upon the Trump administration to shut down this Khomeiniist front group.

First @NIAC affiliated people attempted to label the Iran Deal the Persian Spring. Now they are trying to call the newest wave of #IranProtests the Persian Autumn. This is racist. https://t.co/EtNVBD6Mme — Maryam Nayeb Yazdi (@maryamnayebyazd) November 22, 2019

Want to support Iranians? SHUT. DOWN. NIAC. https://t.co/3yLNW6DASQ — Kaveh Shahrooz کاوه شهروز (@kshahrooz) November 18, 2019

New report by @WashInstitute⁩: “Any statements by the Trump administration about support for the (Iranian) people will have little credibility, largely because of the U.S. visa ban instituted against them.” https://t.co/MJLiMfcQF4 — Henry Rome (@hrome2) November 19, 2019

NIAC’s thug-like behavior ” Accuse the US instead of blaming Mullahs” The same way that NIAC accuses the US with false claims about the sanctions on medicine, now they are telling us that the inaccessibility to the internet in Iran is because of the US sanctions.#Internet4Iran https://t.co/CCK5OvK3MW pic.twitter.com/YnhvojFkwv — Iranian American (@IranLionness) November 19, 2019

The partial Internet block lifting also came after Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, a prominent advocate of a democratic Iran, met with American officials today, most notably Senator Rand Paul, regarding the US helping to provide web access to the Iranian people.

Today I met with Sen @RandPaul and several American policy makers. I emphasized to them that there is no limit to the regime’s brutality and shamelessness, and I stressed the need for further support for the Iranian people, particularly given the high cost of inaction.1/2 pic.twitter.com/YhBcUbZdhY — Reza Pahlavi (@PahlaviReza) November 21, 2019

Reza Pahlavi is also the name chanted most by the demonstrators inside Iran, who look fondly upon the reigns of his father and grandfather, as an era of secularism and progressive reforms.

Fearing the popularity of the Pahlavi family, the regime is also now blaming the protests upon a “conspiracy” supposedly organized by them, and is threatening to executive those arrested in Iran, and to attack opposition figures in the Iranian diaspora abroad.

Ali Shamkhani secretary of the Supreme National Security Council says that Iranian diaspora satellite TV stations along with supporters of #RezaPahlavi inside Iran joined to try to overthrow the regime. pic.twitter.com/jRDjzOysGj — Alireza Nader (@AlirezaNader) November 21, 2019

Tehran’s authorities have also launched a website that is meant to identify and target protesters nationwide for mass arrests.

More footage of the already-reported atrocities in Bushehr, Sanandaj, Karaj, and Ahvaz from a few days has come out.

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In Iran internet was blackout for 5 days. Today as limited access is given to some universities since about an hour ago see what kind of videos people are sending to me. A women says the security forces killed a young protester in Karaj city in the second day of #IranProtests pic.twitter.com/CBoAtraXdF — Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) November 21, 2019

A new video released from #IranProtests in Bushehr, SW Iran, shows a protester was gun shot by Basij militia and IRGC forces. pic.twitter.com/uz8Jv9i6mR — بهرام گور (@Bahram_Gooor) November 21, 2019

Another video leaked out of #Iran shows #Basij militias of #Iran‘s Islamic Regime opened fire at protesters in #Sanandaj‘s city center two days ago. Tens of protesters died there.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/HonPpch5aM — Babak Taghvaee (@BabakTaghvaee) November 21, 2019

Watch brutality of the Special Pasdaran Unit of #Iran‘s Islamic Regime Police in #Ahvaz, Southwest of Iran in third day of #IranProtests. pic.twitter.com/8vLViokNjx — Babak Taghvaee (@BabakTaghvaee) November 21, 2019

Some videos of the current situation indicate that fighting is still occurring in Tehran, despite regime claims to have won a “victory” last night.

This video shows protest against #Iran‘s Islamic Regime in Sadeghiyeh, West of #Tehran last night. With the restoration of Internet access we are receiving more videos of #IranProtests pic.twitter.com/XmDPnAS15Z — Babak Taghvaee (@BabakTaghvaee) November 21, 2019

The historical city of Yasuj, in south central Iran, also remains a scene of protest.

Also in Yasuj today, the body of a cleric, who was apparently killed by protestors, was found. Shi’a clerics, despised by the mass majority of Iranians as corrupt oppressors, have become a target of their collective rage over the past several months.

Today, corpse of Ali Hosseini-Zadeh, an ex-Parliament member of #Iran‘s Islamic Regime was found in an abandoned building in #Yasuj. Protesters arrested & punished him & dumped his body in a building. Ayatollahs will No longer feel safe when they are out! #IranProtests pic.twitter.com/quPm2TlFXj — Babak Taghvaee (@BabakTaghvaee) November 21, 2019

Protests are also ongoing in other countries molested by the Khomeiniist regime, such as Iraq, which has been in the throes of a popular uprising for over a month, and Yemen, where resistance to the Tehran-armed and funded Houthi militants has increased as Tehran has cut its funding to them as a result of the fallout from the sanctions against it.

In Beirut protests against Hezbollah and the Khomeinist presence also continues. In the below video, the road leading up to the Lebanese Parliament in Beirut is blocked by women activists confronting the security forces, blocking them from attacking young protesters.

Russia, meanwhile, the Khomeinists’ closest allies and patrons, continue to support its puppet regime. A Russian foreign ministry spokesperson parroted the regime line today that protests were caused by “US sanctions.”

Meanwhile regimes friendly to the Islamic regime in Tehran, such as Turkey has also begun to arrest and abuse Iranian refugees who have shown support for the protesters back home. Abdolreza Dehghan, a former political prisoner and Maryam-Sadat A’raabi, a women’s rights activists, both of whom had fled to Turkey and were awaiting their UN country assignment in the town of Denizli, were arrested by Turkish secret police and have been taken to an unknown location.

Videos of various forms of street actions taken by protesters, such as the one below, where they block roads by putting up barricades to prevent regime militia forces from advancing, are also coming out. Also in this video a full-on stoppage of traffic, where people stop their vehicles and sit in their cars, refusing to move them is also seen.

Also leaking out are videos of the injuries, the killings and the general brutality of the security forces against protesters.

WARNING : The below Instagram posting is a very graphic photo of one of the women killed during the protests

In this video a young man shows his legs, shot with scatterguns, by the regime’s forces.

In the below video, a woman who was participating in the protests is being forcibly dragged away by a female militia member, as protesters surround the car to protect her, screaming at the guards to let her go.

But the protests go on, despite all of the brutality visited upon the brave people of Iran.

Finally, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on another member of the Khomeinist regime. Mohammad-Javad Azari-Jahromi, the slick young minister of the Communications and Information Technology who has been played up as a media darling in American publications such as The Politico has been duly sanctioned for willfully censoring the internet on an entire nation.