Iranian protesters set fire to the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini Museum on Thursday night in the clearest and most direct act of defiance against the regime.
Video of the event shows a fire spreading through the museum, which commemorated the founder of the regime and had been set up in his home after his death.
In two clips obtained by Fox News Digital, people cheer at the museum fire, with one woman saying “Great job” after confirming the deed.
The protests began in mid-September after Iran’s morality police arrested Mahsa Amini, 22, for allegedly violating the country’s hijab laws. They rushed her to the hospital an hour later with what appeared to be injuries from a beating. He died three days later.
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The regime has struggled to quell the protests for the past two months, watching almost helplessly as the protests spread to more than 140 cities and towns across the country. Security forces killed about 350 people and arrested more than 15,000, according to Iran International.
A photo of Ayatollah Khomeini leaning against a wall on the balcony of his former residence in Jamaran, north of Tehran, Iran January 2, 1994. The building is preserved as a museum.
(Photo by Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)
A member of the anti-regime group People’s Mujahedin, also known as the MEK, told Fox News Digital that children as young as 10 have died as a result of the actions of the security forces.
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The regime indiscriminately attacked the crowds to try to dampen the protests, but they only appeared to incite them further.
A fountain is seen in the courtyard of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s house, January 1, 2019. Khomeini was the leader of the Islamic revolution in Iran, which led to the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the Islamic Republic. Khomeini’s home was turned into a museum after his death in 1989.
(Farshid Motahari/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Protesters used arson in response to the crackdown, burning down a number of buildings in addition to the Ayatollahs’ museum. On Friday, protesters set fire to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base in Mahabad.
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The regime even cited arson as a major cause when it chose to hand down a death sentence this week, as courts have started ordering the execution of some protesters, but the act has only further inspired protesters to continue with their cause.
Iranians protest the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by the morality police last month in Tehran, Iran on Thursday, October 27, 2022.
(AP Images/Middle East, files)
Maryam Rajavi, leader of the MEK, said in a statement on Thursday that people had pledged that “fire will be returned with fire”.
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“The world witnessed the decisive decision of the people to overthrow the regime and establish a democratic republic based on the votes of the people and the separation of religion and state,” Rajavi said. “The oppressors don’t have the capacity to deal with a nation that has rebelled.”
