The nationwide Iran uprising continues unabatedly, increasing the clerical regime’s infighting. While authorities continue to bluster and threaten protesters, they have failed to intimidate a volatile society and continue to voice their utter fear over the prospects of the regime’s downfall.
On November 6, some 200 regime MPs issued a statement asking the judiciary and its chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, to “punish” and “rapidly and firmly deal with” protesters by sentencing them to “execution.”
On the same day, regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s mouthpiece Kayhan daily, called for a harsher crackdown on unarmed protesters and urged officials to allow the security forces to use live ammunition more than pellet guns. “Why don’t you allow the security forces to deal with rioters and make them regret their actions,” it wrote.
Subsequently, Ejei rushed to the scene to further intimidate protesters by speaking of “preventive trial and punishment of rioters, especially their main elements.” “I order the judiciary officials and ask other related apparatuses to turn over the main forces of riots to the judiciary,” he was quoted as saying by Iran’s state TV on November 7.
On November 8, the judiciary’s spokesperson Masoud Setayeshi announced that indictments of 1,024 detained protesters were issued. “The judiciary will firmly deal with those who disrupted [the regime’s] security],” he said, according to the semi-official news agency, ISNA.
Iran state-run TV: Regime propagandist Hossein Sazvar: One of my friends said he had asked a protester who did he hate the most, the Islamic Republic or the hypocrites (meaning the MEK)?" His reply: "First of all, not the hypocrites, but the MEK. Secondly, what have they done?" pic.twitter.com/Ha0kSE1OaS
— Ali Safavi (@amsafavi) November 7, 2022
These threats go hand in hand with the regime’s increasing fear of an organized uprising that is relentlessly continuing. Top officials, not just from the rival faction, call for “dialogue” with protesters. This is not just limited to officials like Ali Larijani, a close confidant of Khamenei, now marginalized. Still, officials from Khamenei’s faction and the government of Ebrahim Raisi also acknowledge their failure to quash protests.
Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf spoke of “reforming the ruling methods” during the parliament’s public session on November 7.
Ezzatollah Zarghami, Raisi’s Minister of Cultural Heritage of Iran, also called for dialogue with the protesters. Zarghami headed the regime’s state Radio and Television for years and played a key role in the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. “I believe there is no other way but engaging in dialogue. Some friends asked whether I referred to those who are instigating riots on the streets. Please don’t put words in my mouth. I said we have no other way but speaking among ourselves,” he said on November 6, as quoted by the state-run Daneshjoo news.
Seeing the regime’s downfall on the horizon, Zarghami also expressed his utter fear of his own fate. “I am part of this system. If the regime changes and people want to punish ten officials, I will be among those officials.”
The name of Ali Bahadori Jahromi, the government’s spokesperson, should be added to the list of officials reflecting the regime’s fear of what many observers consider Iran’s democratic revolution.
While blaming the previous government’s “Wrong economic policies” as the reason for the current uprising, Jahromi said, “These policies have caused many problems and accumulated protests. Now we are on the verge of an explosion,” as reported by the state-run Entekhab website on November 8.
The public session of the parliament on November 6 showed the ongoing infighting within the regime. MP Moin-ol-Din Saidi, from Sistan and Baluchestan province, acknowledged the security forces’ brutality in oppressing innocent worshipers in Zahedan and Khash.
“We witnessed two bloody Fridays and the martyrdom of dozens of innocent worshipers in Zahedan and Khash. Those responsible for this tragic incident should face justice. One-third of the casualties of the recent unrest in our country are from Baluchistan. We should hear the voices of the grieving people before it’s too late,” he said, according to Iran’s state TV.
The Qom’s seminary also issued a statement on November 6, criticizing the regime to “respect the dignity of Iranians from all walks of life regardless of their views on religion.” “The government should immediately release all political prisoners,” the statement read, the state-run Shafaqna website Reported.
These contradictory remarks reveal the regime’s failure to quash protests. The powerful waves of dissent have rendered Khamenei’s suppressive apparatus Ineffectual in restoring the status quo.
Khamenei handpicked the parliament. And he pulled Raisi, an unscrupulous mass murderer, from the ballot box, in a bid to consolidate power with the aim of forestalling the outbreak of any uprisings.
As with any other dictator in his final days, Khamenei will order more violence. But the protesters have vowed to continue the protests at any cost, including more than 550 martyrs. The ball is now in the international community’s court to recognize the Iranian people’s right to self-defense. This would further prevent Khamenei from continuing with his killing spree.
