In the leadership of the Islamic Republic there are signs of cracks. On the one hand, the tip relies on hardness. The head of the judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Edschei, has urged the judges not to show sympathy to the leaders of the unrest. Rather, they should be severely punished. “We can clearly see how the enemy is controlling them,” Edschei said at a meeting of the clerical judges in Tehran. His offer for a dialogue with the protesters only lasted three days. It is fitting that the vice police are once again taking more action on the streets and are also arresting women.
What is causing a sensation, however, is that one of the leading Iranian intellectuals who supports the regime is distancing itself from the strategy of cracking down on the protests and, in particular, from President Ebrahim Raisi. Writer Reza Amir-Khani wrote on his social media channels that Raisi was no longer able to distinguish between good and evil.
“A bunch of muddleheads rule the country today,” no one with ordinary intelligence is willing to work with them, and if they do, it’s only for financial reasons. This is the result of a long policy that mobilizes “cheaters and slime creepers”. The writer’s criticism is notable because Amir-Khani is a devout Muslim and is close to the revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whom he accompanied on his travels.
However, Khamenei himself downplayed the protests on Wednesday. They are of “minor importance,” he told members of the Arbitration Council. Council members should not allow themselves to be distracted from their work. The protests were staged by the enemy to cast a shadow over the Islamic Republic’s achievements, Khamenei further claimed.
Roadblocks in Tehran
On Thursday, Khamenei said the “enemy” was showing youth on Google how “Molotev cocktails,” as he pronounced them, were made. The delivery of petrol in canisters is now a punishable offence. Demonstrators are increasingly throwing Molotov cocktails at security forces. This was recently reported in particular from the Tehran working-class district Nazi-Abad, a center of the protests. Before the Second World War, the German engineers and experts working in Tehran lived in this part of the city.
There are also frequent reports from Tehran and other cities of roadblocks set up by the demonstrators. In Assaluyeh, workers in the gas industry continue to strike. They threaten to destroy everything if attacked and arrested.
Several hundred lawyers called for the release of political prisoners at a rally in Tehran called by their chamber. They refrained from chanting slogans critical of the regime. Nevertheless, the police intervened with tear gas to end the rally. Only from then on did they shout “Down with the dictator”. Three lawyers were arrested. A lawyer said it was further evidence that the offer of dialogue with the protesters was a farce.
Demonstrations and rallies are also held at many universities. In the past few days, Basidjis, the volunteer militia of the Revolutionary Guard, has been taking action against the demonstrators at the University of Tehran.
In a remarkable interview with the reformist newspaper Etemead, well-known Iranian sociologist Assef Bayat, who teaches at a US university, explained why these protests are bigger and more widespread than previous ones. The demonstrators wanted to free themselves from Islamic restrictions, which made no sense to them, he said. For this reason, the topic of women works across all borders and overcomes all religious, ethnic and social differences.