The world has been captivated by the bravery and resistance of Iranian protesters, especially the younger generations who are now on the frontline against the regime. The Iranian regime’s security forces have constantly been attacking the people who have been demonstrating against the regime over the past few months.
Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Iran, reiterated calls for an independent investigation to hold the regime responsible for the violence being carried out against the people.
Having witnessed and been involved in many mass protests over the past years, the Iranian people know how to respond to the regime’s violence. Their response is reflected in the slogan ‘fight fire with fire’, which has created widespread desperation and dissension among the regime’s forces.
Concurrently with the ongoing protests, the regime is facing a large shortage of manpower. As a result, they are resorting to recruiting everyone they can, even children, to help them overcome the protests. Fear among the regime’s officials is widespread. Many of them are now using face masks when out in public so that they are not recognized by the people for fear of revenge and retaliation attacks, which clearly shows the regime’s growing weakness.
Many of the regime’s IRGC and Basij members are currently hiding from the Iranian people. The regime’s clerics are also desperate to disguise themselves, avoiding being in public with turbans, as they fear being attacked by the people. A number of video clips circulating on social media show the massive confrontations between the people and officials.
These nationwide protests are starting to, and will, change many things in the future of Iran. These latest demonstrations differ greatly from the past protests, many sectors of society have openly supported the protests, including unions, artists, lawyers’ guilds, and other civil society groups.
We are seeing a tectonic shift in the anger of the population. Protests have broken out in areas and cities that were traditionally famous for their support of the regime, where the regime has historically recruited militias who were used to recruit militias for the regime’s malign goals across the Middle East.
By precisely monitoring the situation for the past 47 days, it is evident that the regime’s forces are losing their effectiveness. The attack on Shah Cheragh shrine, who the regime claimed ISIS was behind of it, a foiled bomb attack in Shiraz, and a gas explosion in Ahvaz, were the subject of the protestors’ slogans as facts of a conspiracy by the regime to divert the attention from the protests and give them an excuse to repress the Iranian people further. Following recent attacks, regime officials warned the protesters that the attempts were linked to the riots and called for seizures.
This lack of accountability is nothing new for this regime. A simple example is the bombing of the Imam Reza shrine on June 20, 1994. The regime claimed that this was implemented by its main opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
Later, Abdollah Nouri, a cleric who once occupied the opposition of the regime’s Ministry of Interior, confirmed that the attack was a false flag by the regime to blame the MEK. This happened in the so-called ‘Chain murders of Iran’, where a number of dissident intellectuals had been critical of the regime. As a result, around 80 writers, translators, poets, political activists, and ordinary people were killed by the regime between 1988 and 1998.
Decades later, recent activities have shown that the regime has lost a significant portion of its power and is using terror as a tool to suppress the people.
Until now, none of its attempts to control the situation have had the expected result. This is because the people do not believe the regime’s claims anymore and their fear of the ruling theocracy is fading. The continuation of the protests for more than seven weeks is the best proof of this.
It should be noted that these protests will ultimately lead to the regime’s demise. The regime’s state-run television network has analyzed the protests and counted some of its main characteristics as follows:
- It is nationwide, almost all cities are involved, and it is ongoing.
- One of the main differences from the past protests is the participation of schoolchildren.
- In this uprising, the revolutionaries ‘launched two wars, a combined and hybrid war from outside and a multifaceted war from inside.’
- And finally, all social classes are participating in the protests.
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