In the 12 months since its opposition took to the streets and was led primarily by women and young men, Iran's ruling theocracy has invested roughly $700 million in suppression of another uprising like that of Sept. 22, 2022.
That is according to documents obtained by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the leading exile group of opponents to the 43-year-old dictatorship in Tehran.
At a news conference in Washington on Tuesday morning, spokesmen for the NCRI revealed that "an increased budget of repressive agencies" has been sought by the regime of Ayatollah Khamenei to counter the insurgents who staged massive marches nearly a year ago.
The marches were triggered by the brutal death on Sept. 16 last year of 22-year-old Mahsa (Jina) Amini, who died in the custody of Iran's morality police. Thousands of protestors subsequently turned out and an estimated 3,626 died, were arrested, or went missing.
To prevent a resurgence of the protest on this Sept. 22, the NCRI said classified documents include requests for "intelligence, the Interior Ministry, municipalities, and seminaries and mullahs, who boost the morale of [the regime's] forces."
Specifically, they charged, Minister of Intelligence and State Security Seyed Ismail Katib wrote President Raisi requesting $41 million in new intelligence equipment, and Brig. Gen. Hossein Nejat of the feared Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) wrote him requesting $8 million for "face recognition cameras" to identify regime opponents.
The NCRI also unveiled recent letters from Major General Hossein Salami, head of Suppression Command at Sarallah Base, which oversees security in Greater Tehran, requesting the Iranian president give $78 million (May 7, 2023) and from Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi requesting $32 million for state security forces (January 8, 2023).
The documents showed that the biggest request for funds came from the mullahs and seminaries, which wanted $168 million.
"This is all to fund the Ayatollah's killing regime," an NCRI spokesman told reporters, "and to try to prevent a reoccurrence of September 22, when women and young people led marches chanting 'Death to Khamenei' and gave our movement stamina."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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