Iran/NCRI: Holding Fire Festival throughout Iran symbolizes rejection of Iranian regime in its entirety/Maryam Rajavi: Nowrouz celebrates the certainty of the coming of spring, liberty and joy

Iran/Maryam Rajavi: Nowrouz celebrates the certainty of the coming of spring, liberty and joy
NCRI /Saturday, 19 March 2016
Maryam Rajavi’s message on the occasion of the Iranian New Year
Fellow compatriots,Honorable mothers and fathers, My dear sisters and brothers, Passionate and energetic youths of Iran who want everything new, Valiant women and men in political prisons who embrace Nowrouz even in captivity, Champions of freedom in Camp Liberty who are the messengers of spring and Nowrouz for Iran, Fellow exiled Iranians all across the world, who take your beautiful homeland, Iran, into your homes and to your families with Nowrouz and by setting up the Haft-Seen arrangement, Happy New Year!
I congratulate you on the advent of spring and the great feast of Nowrouz. May the jubilance and prosperity of Nowrouz embrace all the cities and villages across our country and all the moments of your days and lives! May it overthrow the turbaned ruling beasts! As Zoroaster said: May bad manners fail, May good manners succeed, May lies fail and be conquered by truth. My dear countrymen and women, Although our new day and happiness have been stolen, but they are your rights. Freedom, well-being and security are your rights. Human rights, free elections, separation of religion and state are your rights.
Striving for a just life, a country without executions and torture, and rising up for bringing down the religious tyranny are your rights. These rights must be restituted and the usurpers and oppressors overthrown. On this path, all of us share the same spirit and are parts of the same body. As Massoud Rajavi says, “Anyone who wishes to see the religious tyranny overthrown and anyone who desires freedom and popular sovereignty in a republic and the people’s vote, is with us and we are with him.”Hail to your steadfastness and fortitude that ruined and closed down the sites of the mullahs’ nuclear weapons project last year.
Now is the turn to destroy the bases of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, their unjust courts and their torture chambers. Khamenei wished to bring out his regime from the pit of the nuclear retreat but he ended up pushing the entire regime down the well of its sham elections.
He wanted to find a breathing space for the regime in Yemen and Syria. But the Iranian regime was defeated in Yemen and suffered the loss of its most important commanders in Syria. The regime became so weak that the mullahs appealed for Russia’s interference. Russia’s intervention, however, did not last long despite massive bombardments and massacres, and the Iranian regime has now lost its backing. And finally, the mullahs sought to annihilate pioneers of the Iranian nation’s Resistance movement by launching rocket attacks on Camp Liberty and massacring members of the PMOI;However, the people of Iran embraced the PMOI more than ever before with great love. Let us remember Nayyereh Rabii and Hossein Abrishamchi and 22 other heroes who sacrificed their lives for Iran’s spring of freedom. For the people of Iran, Nowrouz celebrates the certainty of the coming of spring, liberty and joy. Every Nowrouz, Iranians celebrate an auspicious destiny that they believe will definitely come. To realize that day, we must start our preparations today:
The mullahs’ mission is killing hope. But we must revive hope by selfless sacrifice, love, and trusting our fellow countrymen. The mullahs seek to eliminate national solidarity. So, all nationals of Iran must reinforce their bonds of friendship more than ever. Our Iran is an amazingly beautiful garden with freedom and popular sovereignty. Baluchies and Kurds, Arabs and Lors, Bakhtiaries and Turkomans, Azeries and followers of various ethnic groups and faiths are the colorful, lovely flowers of Iran’s garden. And the day when Iran becomes the garden of freedom and justice is definitely on the way. To workers, teachers, and nurses and to you, the freedom-loving women, mothers and fathers who have risen up to protest in front of Evin Prison, I say that it is you who will bring Nowrouz to our land. You, who resist in prisons. Prisoners who held the Feast of Fire in Gohardasht Prison with ever-louder chants of: “Set fire to and burn the principle of Velayat-e Faqih.”You who help the poor and promote peace, and spread purity, trust, and friendship. Yes, you are the ones who will bring Nowrouz. The spring of freedom will be realized by your determination. Wish you a hundred years better than these years. Congratulations to all of you, on the auspicious spring, victorious Nowrouz, and beginning of the new Iranian year 1395!
http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/ncri-statements/president-elect/20028-maryam-rajavi-nowrouz-celebrates-the-certainty-of-the-coming-of-spring-liberty-and-joy

Iran/Holding Fire Festival throughout Iran symbolizes rejection of Iranian regime in its entirety
NCRI /Saturday, 19 March 2016
Slogan of “death to Khamenei, death to principle of velayat-e faqih”; setting pictures of regime’s leaders ablaze
Fire Festival held in Gohardasht prison of Karaj with slogan of “set fire to principle of velayat”
On Tuesday, March 15, Iranian people, especially the youth, widely held the national festivity of Fire Festival in various districts of Tehran and in other cities face to face with the ominous clerical regime. The Fire Festival was held despite the fact that officials from both factions of the ruling clique strongly warned people through all means of communication not to hold this ceremony and made every attempt to turn this festivity that has become a symbol of protest against the medieval rule of mullahs into an apolitical ceremony. On Tuesday morning, in an absurd fatwa regarding the Fire Festival, Khamenei stated: “Fire Festival has no basis in the Sharia and is best avoided.”Mullah Nasser Makarem Shirazi from Khamenei’s faction similarly said that “ignorant people have brought superstitious rituals such as the Fire Festival into their lives, but it should be avoided. People who throw noisy firecrackers to the streets should know that they will be held answerable on the Day of Judgment”. State Security Forces (SSF) commanders in various cities also resorted to threatening people. Issa Daraei, SSF commander of Khuzestan said: “To bring security to the last Wednesday [Tuesday] of the year, the provincial security forces are on full alert.” He acknowledged that on the election day, 25000 security forces and revolutionary guards had been deployed to provide ‘security’ to the province.
Suppressive agencies not only threatened to detain ‘unruly’ people for the duration of the Persian New Year holidays, but threatened dealers of firecrackers with prison terms of 2 to 5 years. The suppressive forces had been heavily deployed in busy squares and streets in Tehran. The Iranian regime had completely shut down public transportation in Tehran and removed most of the trash bins from the streets fearing that the youth may set them on fire. However, despite the threats and fearful statements by regime’s leaders, people in various cities throughout the country held the Fire Festival, including in Tehran, Shiraz, Esfahan, Yazd, Fariman, Karaj, Qazvin, Zanjan, Tabriz, Ardebil, Urmia, Ahvaz, Sousangerd, Bandar Abbas, Boushehr, Gachsaran, Sanandaj, Kermanshah, Sardasht, Oshnaviyeh, Javanroud, Semnan, Shahroud, Mashhad, Nayshabour, Bojnourd, Kerman, Shahr Babak, Gonbad Kavous, Sari, Noshahr, Laheijan, Rasht, Gaemshahr, Som’esara, Bandar Anzali, Golestan, Hamedan, Behbahan, Boroujerd, Khorramabad, Kashmar and Parand county. Political prisoners at Gohardasht (Rajai Shahr) prison in city of Karaj who were stopped by prison henchmen from holding this ceremony outdoors, held this national ceremony with limited resources albeit the watchful eyes of suppressive elements in this prison. Along with the people throughout Iran they chanted “set fire to the ward and to handcuff”, “set fire to tyranny”, “set fire to the impious regime”, “set fire more than before”, “set fire to the principle of velayat” while jumping over a bonfire. Using loudspeakers in chanting the slogans; writing slogans on the walls or putting up flyers; tearing up or setting pictures of Khomeini, Khamenei, Rouhani and Rafsanjani on fire in various districts of Tehran, Bandar Abbas, Qaemshahr, Kerman, Sari, Bandar Anzali, Golestan and Neyshabour was another aspect of expressing the loath of the youth for the regime of velayat-e faqih in its entirety. In Tehran, the courageous youth wrote “Death to the principle of velayat-e faqih” over Khomeini’s picture at Vali Asr Square to welcome the Fire Festival and there was a clash between the people and the anti-riot forces there where the youth set one garbage bin on fire. Special Guard forces were deployed in various districts of the city, including Rezaiz (Haft-e Tir) Square, Vanak and Tajrish, and prevented the commute of the people.
A group of the youth gathered in Mellat Park and chanted anti-government slogans. As soon as they began their slogans, units of Special Forces were dispatched to the place. At Vanak Square, plainclothes agents fired shots at people who were resisting them. In Tajrish district, as well as in Nazi Abad, a group of people jumped over the bonfires while chanting “death to Khamenei”, “death to the principle of velayat-e faqih” and “death to Rouhani”.Pictures of Khomeini, the founder of the velayat-e faqih system, and Khamenei, the leader of this oppressive regime, were set ablaze at Milad Tower. Similarly, in sections of the ‘Falakeh Awal’ of Tehranpars, the courageous youth set pictures of Khamenei and Rouhani on fire to symbolize discarding the whole of the religious fascist regime ruling Iran. In Roudaki Street of Tehran, people resisted security forces that attempted to prevent them from holding the Fire Festival and forced them to retreat. At 8 pm, at Qiam Square, passionate youth clashed with the anti-riot units that had hurled tear gas at them. At Fallah Street, the youth held the ceremony while clashing with the suppressive forces. At Karoun township people jumped over the bonfires while chanting anti-regime slogans.
In city of Karaj courageous youth set a two meters long picture of Khamenei on fire. In this large picture Khamenei held a paper which read: “I am the murderer of the people” They also sent a balloon into the air written on it “Long live freedom”.The people and the youth in Tabriz put up placards which read “death to the principle of velayat-e faqih” and “Year 95 [Persian New Year of 1395] is the year of overthrow of regime” on the walls of the city to commemorate the Fire Festival. In city of Qazvin, the youth threw firecrackers at masses of regime’s mercenaries that had been deployed in the streets to terrorize them. In the city of Yazd, the youth set the picture of Khamenei, leader of the velayat-e faqih regime on fire. In Bandar Anzali, balloons with the slogans of “Death to Khamenei” and “Death to Khomeini” written on them were sent up the sky of this city. Various sections of city of Ahvaz, including Kian Pars; various districts of city of Sanandaj, including Salavat Abad; Qalatouk forest park of Ashnavia; the main street of Javanroud; Zafar and Abadani Maskan townships in Kermanshah; the city center, Kouh Namaki and Quran Gate of Shiraz; Kosar Square and 1st square of Haft Bagh Street of Kerman; Takhti Street in Boroujerd; and Parand township in Alborz province where other places where despite unprecedented restrictions and closure of streets and deployment of the suppressive security forces and plainclothes agents at intersections and squares, people held the Fire Festival. Elements of regime’s suppressive forces that were unsuccessful at stopping people from holding this national ceremony arrested a large number of the youth including at Sanat Square, Narmak, Nezamabad and Gorgan Street of Tehran, as well as in Kermanshah and Urmia.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/ncri-statements/iran-protests/20027-holding-fire-festival-throughout-iran-symbolizes-rejection-of-iranian-regime-in-its-entirety