Protest Trash Collection in Tehran and a Head That Was Injured

Tehran without trash; a number of civil and political activists opposing the Islamic Republic are currently collaborating with Tehran's garbage collectors to clean up the streets of the capital. However, the goal is not just to clean Tehran. As Mohammad Nourizad, one of these opponents, has written, he and Mohammad Maleki are collecting trash from the city's streets as a sign of "protest." In a conversation with Radio Farda, Nourizad stated, "Dr. Mohammad Maleki and I intend to collect trash from one of Tehran's streets in protest against the assets that the Revolutionary Guards have taken from us without reason and without a judicial order, and that have not been returned to us, and in protest against the fact that both of us have been banned from leaving the country without reason and without a judicial order." Nourizad wrote on his Facebook: "Is this not a crime anymore?" Mohammad Maleki and Mohammad Nourizad were on completely different political fronts before 2009. Nourizad wrote for Kayhan and strongly supported Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while Maleki has long expressed regret for his role in bringing the Islamic Republic to power and has become an opponent of the government. After the events of 2009 and the emergence of the Green Movement, Nourizad also followed the path of people like Maleki and, expressing regret for his past, joined the ranks of government opponents. Gradually, these two took the lead in civil protests against the Ministry of Intelligence, the Revolutionary Guards, and other institutions and figures of the Islamic Republic in the streets of Tehran. After several protest actions in front of Evin Prison and the Dena Tire Factory, Nourizad and Maleki designed the trash collection program. Nourizad wrote on his Facebook that "no human being approves of living alongside trash" and added, "We want to clean the trash from our surroundings." On the first day of the trash collection, a few people joined them. The second day of this protest was supposed to take place on Friday, February 5, but an incident prevented them. Maleki's Facebook page stated that he and Nourizad were present at Park Way intersection in Tehran when intelligence and security agents attempted to arrest them with a Peugeot vehicle. However, Maleki's resistance and the agents' attempts to force him into the car caused his head to hit the car door, resulting in an injury. Maleki, the first president of Tehran University after the Islamic Republic came to power, is now 82 years old and has been battling prostate cancer for years. Maleki told Radio Farda that before 10 AM, security agents had put him in the car, but with Nourizad's intervention, he got out of the vehicle until the agents "brutally and forcefully" pushed him back into the car, causing his head to hit the car door. According to Maleki, the agents also put Nourizad in the same vehicle and dropped them off nearby Behesht Zahra. Maleki emphasized that he and Nourizad will continue their protest programs, including trash collection. Nourizad also wrote on his Facebook that perhaps the security agents meant to say that they should start the trash collection from Qom! This opponent of the Islamic Republic emphasized: "Maybe Dr. Maleki and I went around the Leader's house and puffed at the clouds above us."