"Like lambs to slaughter."

 The November Uprising in Iran was the bloodiest confrontation betwen the government and protesters since the 1979 Revolution. Over 1500 peaceful protesters were executed by a dictatorship government. This article will appear in  my new book, "Shout Freedom: The desperate cry of 
Iranians."

                                                     

                             

    Friday, November 15, 2019 is a day that Iranians will not soon forget! The government announced that is was hiking the gas prices by more than 200 percent! The new fuel tax outraged Iranians who were already struggling to make ends meet in a desperate economic situation burdened by the U.S. sanctions. Refusing to comply with the oppressive new regulations, Iranians took to the streets in massive protests across 200 cities and towns, demanding their rights and confronting the sins of the regime, shouting, “Death to the dictator!”

    Supreme leader Ali Khamenei summoned his inner circle after watching the massive uprising and gave a stern command to them, “The Islamic Republic is in danger. Do whatever it takes to end it. You have my order!”

    What transpired after the Supreme Leader’s command, resulted in one of the bloodiest episodes since the Islamic Revolution of 1979!

     In order to conceal their savagery, the government shut down the internet nationwide to confuse the protesters and hide from the world, the evil they were about to do. The IRGC, (Iran Revolutionary Guard) descended upon the innocent, peaceful protesters, intending to crush the revolt, and began shooting them in the head and heart. In the end, after two bloody and violent weeks, over 1,500 Iranians lay dead in the streets and hospital beds, 17 of them young teenagers, and 400 of them women! Over 4,000 had been wounded and 7,000 arrested. The IRGC had successfully carried out the direct orders of the Supreme Leader, sparing no mercy! Bodies of protesters were later found floating in rivers, while the wounded lay critically injured in hospital beds, some snatched up by security forces, and immediately dragged away to prison. 

    After the internet was finally restored, the world saw shocking videos of the military perched high above the roofs of apartment buildings and shooting directly into the crowds of peaceful protesters. Families of the victims were denied access to their loved one’s bodies and were told by security that they must first pay for the cost of the bullets that had killed their sons or daughters!

     Supreme Leader Khamenei described the protesters as, “thugs and hooligans,” while Assembly of Experts official, Ahmad Khatmai, speaking at a Friday prayer on November 22, called them “saboteurs waging war against God,” declaring that, “execution by hanging for the leaders of the riots are certain!”

     The innocent protesters, discouraged and despaired over the economic chaos, had taken to the streets, most of them in a peaceful manner, simply to let their voices be heard, demanding relief from the oppressive tax hikes. Some of the protesters were unfortunately caught in the line of fire while performing acts of kindness. One such innocent victim was 34-year-old Ameneh Shahbazi, a housewife and mother residing in the city of Karaj. Ameneh left home on Sunday, November 17 to buy medicine only to be thrust into the chaos of the protests. She noticed a man near her had been shot and immediately responded to give him first aid. Removing her hijab, Ameneh began wrapping it around his wounded leg, when suddenly she was shot in the back of the head. Her body was withheld from the family for two days until they agreed that that no special ceremonies would be performed at the graveside and no interviews given to the media.

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   “We had been engaged for three days. They were the best days of my life. We were to marry on January 16, but they took my Mesyam away from me! I wish that I were dead, too!”

      A devastated and tearful, Samieh Shirdel, will never experience the joy of that special wedding day. The IRGC made sure of that! Meysam was shot in the abdomen on Saturday, November 16 in Karaj City, near Tehran, on his way home from work. Samieh last spoke to her fiancé at around 5 pm and informed him about the chaotic protest situation. The situation was so dangerous that cab drivers refused to take on passengers, which forced Meysam to walk home. It was on his way home, that Meysam was fired upon. His friends rushed him to the hospital from the repair shop where he worked as a mechanic. His hands were still greasy from work as he lay struggling for his life in a dirty hospital bed.

     Meysam was in excruciating pain. His body was black and blue. His eyes were puffy. Samieh visited him the next day. It was two days before his 28^th birthday. The fatal bullet had cut through his intestines and damaged his spine. Four days later Meysam died from his wounds. This unjust tragedy came at time when the couple were experiencing the happiest moments of their lives.

     “The memories of those days are all that I have left,” Samieh tearfully explained.

     The evil regime had been successful in crushing the protests and also crushing forever the lives of so many innocent young children and women, who will never see the reality of their dreams come true. Their dreams of freedom and democracy ended with a stern reminder that The Islamic Republic of Iran is an iron-fisted dictatorship that forbids the exercise of free speech. Like lambs led to the slaughter, the peaceful protesters had been brutally murdered by a government intent on controlling their minds and hearts from the cradle to the grave. However, the world will never forget their cause, and I will never stop being their voice!

                           “Lambs to slaughter. Sons and daughters

                              Tears are falling. We haven’t forgotten.

                             Lambs to slaughter. Made to order.

                           Tears are falling. We haven’t forgotten you."