Iran’s regime’s major authorities try to make gestures that the dust of the recent protests had settled, especially after its supreme leader Ali Khamenei in his latest speech gave a warning to the Iranian people, against continuing the protests.
Following Khamenei’s warning, they prematurely started to congratulate each other on defeating the people and quelling the protests.
They wanted to show that they were facing just a few emotional and excited youths, influenced by computer games, that are burning some trash cans on the street and wanted the regime’s supporters to believe that there is no need to mind about the regime’s security and soon the protests would finish.
In a ridiculous claim, Khamenei’s mouthpiece Hossein Shariatmadari, the chief editor of the Kayhan daily, said, “To see the reality, just put your smartphone aside, go outside and enjoy walking down the street in the real world with the security that the Islamic Republic has created for you in one of the most insecure areas of the world and see that there is nothing special outside.”
But the people by continuing the protests at a new level of confronting the regime’s forces have broken Khamenei’s bullying.
As a result, and in fear, many of the low-ranked officials utter that these protests are completely different from the past that took place in 2009, 2018, and 2020. They are difficult to quell, will persist, and are getting organized by groups of fearless defiant youths. Even now some of them realized that what they are facing now is a revolution, facing many losses on the regime’s side something that did not happen in the past.
They are warning the sovereignty that its security is bound to a narrow string and in close time, this string will tear up if they do consider the people’s demands as soon as possible. And the last thing that is preventing some people from participating in the protests is their fear about the costs of the protests, but such factors are not perdurable and will lose their effect very soon.
The state-run daily Bahar in their October 9 publication, wrote, “A very important point that should be noted is that the extent of dissatisfaction and anger should not be limited to the number of people who participate in the protests.”
It added, “These are a very small percentage of the total number of people who are angry. Many do not consider the protest to be effective for several reasons, so they do not participate. Or the next important factor that prevents some of the people to participate in the protests is their ‘fear of the costs of the protests.’
Bahar concluded, “These factors are now playing a role, but they are not predictable, and someday maybe they will lose their effect and much bigger protests will be created.”
In another article, the same daily criticized the government, writing in irony that, “A hard winter was supposed to come for Europe. But hard autumn has arrived for us sooner.”
It further added, “Surveys, ethnographies, and analyses showed that the accumulated anger and patience of the people was bound to a strand of hair. And we saw that with the tearing up of this strand of hair how the stability was broken, and a crisis was created. I appreciate the word of anyone who says that the situation is fine, and nothing happened.”
The Bahar daily also stated, “Society is strangely polarized. The number of opponents is high. Even if it is not visible on the streets and this is dangerous for the structure.”
Such remarks are not just limited to some outlets. As the uprising is entering its fourth week, warnings and concerns are expressed by many others.
Emad Afrough Ostad, a former MP, warned the regime, saying, “The official power thinks that if they pay attention to these protests and these words, it will be considered a kind of retreat. Which retreat? A system that does not pay attention to change, does not pay attention to social and civil power and their demands, is doomed to failure. No problem will be solved with the internet outage.”
Mohammad Sarafraz, the former head of the regime’s Radio and Television, wrote in a tweet, “They have created an enemy called cyberspace and you are blaming it for their mistakes and inefficiencies.”
The Jamaran website stated, “Young people feel humiliated. The solution to these issues is not violence and cutting off the Internet. Provide conditions for peaceful protests and demonstrations.
“The incident that happened with the death of Mrs. Mahsa Amini was a spark because of the accumulation of discomforts, difficulties, and demands that people, especially young people, and women, had. What has caused chaos in this city is the way of governance in the last one or two decades, during which the people have been neglected.”
