Revolution 44 years ago
Protests in Iran mullahs screw up celebrations
02/11/2023 11:59 am
The Iranian government is commemorating the Islamic revolution 44 years ago with numerous rallies. At the same time, President Raisi declares that the uprisings that have been going on for months have failed – the women in the country are doing well. Protests on the fringes of state celebrations show that reality is different.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi believes that the nationwide protests against the government that have been going on for months have failed. “The Iranian people have failed the foreign enemies’ project of unrest and media warfare,” Raisi said. This neutralized another foreign-controlled conspiracy and won another victory for the revolution, said the President on the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the Islamic revolution of 1979.
Raisi again accused foreign countries – namely the USA – of directing and financing the protests in order to stop progress in Iran. According to Raisi, foreign representations of the role of women in Iran are simply wrong. Women are free and represented in all top positions, but unlike in the West they are “not marketed as objects”. In addition, in Iran, the focus is on the family and not on issues such as homosexuality. “This (homosexuality) nullifies the status of the family and ultimately erases the human generation,” the cleric said.
Protests continue
However, the reality in Iran is different from what Raisi portrays. Although there are fewer street demonstrations, the protests continue in other forms. Among other things, more and more women are ignoring the headscarf requirement in public and thus the Islamic regulations. In addition, there are increasing calls for a constitutional amendment and a referendum to determine the country’s new political course.
In addition, the Raisi government is caught in the worst economic crisis in Iranian history. The national currency, the rial, has continued to lose value and there is no sign of an improvement in the situation. Because of the violent crackdown on the demonstrators, further sanctions were imposed on the theocracy, which led to the international isolation of the country.
Islamic Revolution of 1979
Celebrations marking the 44th anniversary of the Islamic revolution took place in Iran amid anti-system protests. According to the state broadcaster IRIB, millions of people in the capital Tehran and in other cities took part in the state-organized rallies. In February 1979, an uprising led by revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini led to the collapse of the monarchy.
This time the anniversary of the Islamic revolution was overshadowed by the protests that have been going on since the autumn. These were initially directed against the Islamic headscarf requirement within the framework of a women’s movement, but then against the entire Islamic system. The protesters and Iranian opposition at home and abroad are calling for secular democracy in place of the theocratic rule of the past four decades.
According to human rights activists, more than 500 people have been killed and almost 20,000 demonstrators arrested since the protests began in September 2022. On the anniversary of the revolution, Iran’s head of state, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pardoned tens of thousands of prisoners. Among them are said to be demonstrators who were arrested during the recent wave of protests.