Elnaz Rekabi who was participating in the competitive climber championship in South Korea, bravely refused to wear the compulsory head scarf against Iranian government's rules. The incident which had got international coverage was praised by Iranian women everywhere. However. Once she returned to Tehran's airport, she was prevented from meeting the large audience who had gathered to meet with her and was taken away in a minivan. Nevertheless, she received a nice, huge reception from her admirers who could see the minivan but not her.
The events in Iran are changing on a daily basis. During last few days the general strike in all colleges and universities has expanded significantly. Students go to schools but do not attend classes. While walking on the campus, they chant antigovernment slogans. The high school kids as well as girls as young as ten and twelve years old are doing the same thing. The security forces try periodically to stop them. However, they just cause more people to get angry and the number of participants keep on increasing.
Last week some of the oil workers started a strike. Since then, many more oil workers have joined them in other cities in refineries and oil fields.
Meanwhile the security forces kill a few young people around the country on a daily basis. The total of dead and wounded is not known. Government forces look tired and demoralized. The data on these topics are simply not available.
The Iranian dictator Ayatollah Khamenei is appearing frequently on national T.V doing his best to turn the events to where they were one months ago. However, he is only adding fuel to the fire as he has become an additional irritating factor, causing people to become more militant and feistier. People have not started any armed struggle. They do not want to give the excuse to the government to start a massacre. However, old fashion sling shots are becoming more popular. Marble shooting has become a different type of sport these days.
Since Iran sold many drones to Russia to be used in the war in Ukraine, all negotiation with U.S and European countries are dead. There is not going to be a JCPOA agreement.
Since the internet and cell phones connections are blocked, our contact with family members is cut off, and the news are barely leaking out.
