Source: Africa-Asia Monthly, July and August 2007
By: Jean Lure from Tehran
Iran is lonely and abandoned in the international scene and none of its economic and social promises have been observed. It is faced with increased daily protests of students and workers. The fear of an acting volcano is depriving the mullahs from a good night sleep.
Source: Africa-Asia Monthly, July and August 2007
By: Jean Lure from Tehran Iran is lonely and abandoned in the international scene and none of its economic and social promises have been observed. It is faced with increased daily protests of students and workers. The fear of an acting volcano is depriving the mullahs from a good night sleep.
On that day a young man was supposed to be hanged in Shiraz. This is a normal affair in Iran. Since Ahmadinejad took power, the public hangings have wickedly increased. It is a vehicle to control the society: the more they kill, the more fearful people will get.
A young man was supposed to be hanged in Shiraz. A masked executioner was ready at the scene. Police officers and revolutionary guards had surrounded the place to prevent riots. This show did not take place as planned. A group of young people contested. The opposition got louder and became a riot. The automobile carrying hanging gear was turned upside down by the rioters. Town officials decided not to carry the hanging. This is what happens in our century in the city of flowers and nightingales.
On May 20th, in Haft-teer there is another scene and another framework. Police officers are trying to arrest the mal-veiled women. Passers-by clash with the officers to let the women escape. Since June 1st and after the implementation of honor and mal-veiling laws that were passed by the mullah’s parliament, a number of incidents have occurred in Tehran and resulted in clashes. Based on reports by the Iranian Women’s Association, 70,000 women have been detained since the violence against mal-veiling started.
Opposition Uprisings
In Iran, scenes of resistance against suppression are increasing. Since a few months ago, strikes and uprisings have been spreading throughout Iran. The situation in the universities is explosive and numerous clashes have been reported between the students and the security forces. Students in Isfahan, Hamedan and Tabriz have joined in the dissident movement. In the past the uprisings were to gain social benefits but now they are for freeing their classmates. One of the main centers of uprisings is the Amir-Kabir Polytechnic University in Tehran. This was the place where they insulted Ahmadinejad and burned his pictures in front of his eyes. As a result, a number of students have been arrested and imprisoned. A student paper reports that the students are held in ward 209 of Evin prison which is supervised by the ministry of Information and Vavak. The security officials have closed down six papers and three student organizations. They have also expelled some students.
At their protest, students carried slogans such as: “The train of student movement does not have a break any more (referring to Ahmadinejad’s slogan about the nuclear program)”. On May 1st demonstrating workers also called unusual slogans similar to that of the students’. For example: “free detained workers”, “No to nuclear program, no to 180,000 rial monthly salary”. This all means that people think the nuclear program and the expenses related to that have caused poverty and shortage for them.
Teachers are also as determined. “I am Alireza Akbari’s daughter. My father is in prison. I used to think that jail is a place for bad people but now I know that it is also a place for teachers. I only want to hear him say he is fine. I don’t want anything else.” These words touched thousands of teachers who had gathered for freedom of their colleagues. Teachers make 130 to 140 Euros a month which is under poverty line.
Imprisonment or Hanging
The important question is why the mullahs are not meeting the demands of teachers, workers or students despite the fact that with the 56 billion dollar income from oil in 2006, the government is capable of doing it. The truth is that the mullahs are fearful that peoples’ demands will spread throughout the country and get out of control as they did at the end of the Shah’s era thus bring down the regime. The launch of writing slogans on the walls in big cities in favor of Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) brings back bitter memories in mullahs’ minds.
The fear is reasonable. Peoples’ protests, especially in the areas with ethnic minorities such as Azeris, Baluch and Arabs are exploding. This is not surprising. Although those areas have abundance of natural resources, their poverty stricken people live under discrimination. This year in Naghadeh, the anniversary of Azeri uprisings ended up in riots and clashes with security forces.
The only response of the regime is increasing suppression. With the justification of establishing security, masked militias of regime’s special forces attack young people, beat them up, insult and arrest them. These scenes are aired on TV to create terror and fear among the population. The victims are heavily punished. Resalat newspaper of May 29th quoted Saeed Agha-Sadeghi, the deputy of the prisons: “The detained thugs are dangerous criminals who will be denied the usual services in the prison.”
On the other hand, Alireza Jamshidi the Judicial spokesman confirmed the detention of 1500 young men and said they should expect heavy punishments. Alireza Eftekhri, regime’s deputy attorney in Ghazvin demanded their execution despite the fact that their arrests and charges have not even been announced.
Presently, we are witnessing an increase in number of executions. According to government-run media reports, 42 people were executed in May. A prisoner named Hardaei whose execution verdict was suspended in 2005 as a result of international pressure, is now at the verge of execution. Recently in Hamedan, the regime executed a 17 year old boy by the name of Saeed Ghanbar-Zehi on charges of dissent. His charge was in fact being related to a member of the Baluchi group fighting against the suppressive forces. A lot of people have been executed on the charge of “resisting the security forces” which actually means political dissent.
There is a big distance between the people and those ruling them. The question is: will the regime be able to prevent people’s uprising with intensified suppression as it has done in the past? The regime has been emboldened in its internal suppression after the shocking decision of the UN Human Rights Council to end overseeing human rights violations in Iran. And prior to that by the EU decision not to present to the Human Rights Council, the resolution to condemn human rights violations in Iran. The other factor is the shameless lenience of the westerners towards the regime. For example, the refusal of EU in accepting the ruling of the European Court of the First Order to remove the name of the main opposition of the Iranian regime from the terrorist list. The EU is concerned about jeopardizing its relationship with Tehran.
A Despicable Regime
As the Americans and Europeans haggle over the success of talks with Iran and are dreaming about a respectable result in the nuclear dossier and Iraq, the Iranian rulers are very concerned and alarmed. Not because of unfeasible foreign military attack but because of peoples’ support for Mojahedin-e-Khalq. Today, MEK is highly capable of attracting the young people born and raised after the revolution. The regime is extremely fearful of increased protests as a result of international sanctions.
Ahmadinejad’s promises have not been observed in Iran. The U.N. Security Council resolutions have discredited the illusion of stability that the regime had created for its supporters. In Iraq, the regime was promising its followers a smooth and easy infiltration which in reality has been blocked by hurdles. The world has realized the extent of Iranians’ meddling in Iraq and Arab countries consider Iran as the god-father of the most violent extremist groups who are targeting the entire Iraqi nation.
