Reports from Iran indicate that the mullahs’ regime has increased its oppressive measures. In the most recent development, Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) commander Hossein Salami appointed Brigadier General Hossein Nejat as his deputy and acting commander of the IRGC’s Sarallah Base in Tehran. Sarallah headquarters is an important part of the security apparatus of the IRGC, and its primary responsibility is to provide security for Iran’s capital.
In another development, in a letter to the regime’s judiciary chief, Ebrahim Raisi, Salami reiterated that the IRGC is ready to cooperate with the Judiciary to “establish security” in the society.
The state-run Mehr news agency quoted Mohammad-Reza Edalatkhah, Chief Justice of Hamadan Province, northwest Iran, as saying that “over 65,000 cases were created in this province in the current year. The highest number of prisoners in the west of the country belongs to Hamadan province.”
While fearing another uprising, with youth and women at its forefront as in the nationwide November 2019 Iran protests, the regime has imposed a new series of restrictions under the pretext of so-called “fighting improper clothing and mal-veiling,” to justify a wide crackdown on Iranian youth and particularly the women.
On June 16, the state-run Fars News agency, which is affiliated with the IRGC, while quoting mullah Hojatollah Zaker, Deputy Minister of Culture and Social Affairs of the Center for Mosque Affairs, wrote: “As the temperature rises, we witness many women and girls in cities and in vehicles who are improperly or not veiled at all. We hope that the authorities will wake up and with the end of spring, put an end to this problem.”
These misogynist rules are not limited to Iran’s cities. On June 15, the Deputy Public Prosecutor of Khorasan Razavi, Ghanbari Rad, announced that a significant number of women had been identified, summoned, and arrested in the province because they had “removed their hijab on social media.”
In this regard, Reza Taghi-Pour, a Member of the regime’s Parliament (Majlis) from Tehran, said: “The passage of the Cyber Security Act is a priority for the Majlis.”
The regime fears another round of Iran protest, such as the one in November, which shook the regime’s foundation. In addition, women and youth are approaching the Iranian opposition, particularly the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Therefore, through increased oppressive measures, the regime tries to confront the restive Iranian society, especially as the economic failures and now the COVID-19 crisis and the regime’s wrong policies increase pressure on the people. In addition, by restricting access to the internet or other suppressive measures, the regime tries to prevent people, especially youth, from joining the Iranian Resistance.
In this regard, the Rahyaftegan state-run website in an article on May 29 wrote: “Our youth, on a scale of thousands are being trapped by [Iranian Resistance leader Massoud] Rajavi’s charisma.”
In an interview with the state-run Etemad Online news agency on May 24, Mohammad-Reza Mortazavi Head of the Iranian Flour Makers Association and President of the Iranian Food Industry Associations, said: “This social hatred that has engulfed the middle class is one of the factors hindering prosperity in the country. This hatred will turn into resentment. As someone who knows and looks at society, I see that this hatred is growing and [will turn into a revolution] will explode.”
