The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organization issued a statement warning about the possibility of a new wave of protests in Iran. The warning comes as economic and livelihood pressures on the people have increased, while problems such as rising prices, declining purchasing power, the rising price of the dollar, and gasoline shortages have intensified social discontent.
In a statement issued on the afternoon of Thursday, August 27, the IRGC Intelligence Organization accused the United States and Israel of designing a plan “to exert pressure from within” against the Iranian regime, claiming that the plan is being pursued following the “failure of efforts to change Iran’s government through military attacks.” The security organization also wrote: “Opponents of the Islamic Republic are changing their strategy.”
However, what stands out most in the statement is its indirect acknowledgment of the existence of domestic conditions for protests. The IRGC Intelligence Organization cited “activating crisis-generating centers, psychological warfare, turmoil in monetary and financial markets, and anti-security operations” as options that the “enemy” could use to “manage the Iran file,” while a significant part of the existing crises stems, above all, from the Iranian regime’s domestic policies and performance.
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Concern over the formation of centers of crisis
The security organization also identified “exaggerating and exploiting certain domestic weaknesses, shortages, and limitations in running the country” and “inciting the people to spread their discontent to the streets” as key elements of the plans it attributed to the “enemy.”
The rising cost of living, declining purchasing power, problems with fuel supplies, and mounting economic pressure are among the difficulties people face in their daily lives. Under such circumstances, social discontent is, before requiring any foreign incitement, a direct result of the accumulation of problems and the Iranian regime’s inability to meet society’s basic livelihood needs.
The IRGC Intelligence Organization also announced its readiness to deal with potential protests, writing that it has put “a focus on guidance and confronting any action that disrupts peace, solidarity, and national cohesion in the country” on its agenda. In practice, this part of the statement shows that the Iranian regime’s security apparatus is primarily concerned about the emergence of domestic protests and the transformation of scattered discontent into street protests.
In recent days, alongside the rising price of the dollar and gasoline shortages, warnings from regime officials and state-run media about the possibility of a new wave of protests have increased. The repeated warnings indicate that the Iranian regime’s security apparatuses are concerned about the high level of discontent in society and the possibility of protests and popular uprisings emerging again.
It should be recalled that the crisis that has frightened the IRGC more than anything else is the transformation of livelihood grievances and labor and professional demands into political demands. The regime has experienced this in previous uprisings and does not want it to happen again.
