“The Society Must Be Insecure for the Unveiled”
Isfahan’s Friday prayer leader has called for “insecurity” in the society against unveiled women to distract from the protests against the execution of Navid Afkari, Iran’s wrestling champion.
In recent weeks, insurgent youths in Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan and Mashhad set fire to the regime’s repression, training and promotion centers in protest of the killing of Afkari.
On Sunday, October 27, 2020 the court that sentenced Navid to death was targeted and set on fire by rebel youth in Shiraz, Navid’s hometown. The youths also set fire to photographs of Khamenei, Khomeini and Qassem Soleimani in a number of cities. These activities frightened the regime. Many of these insurgent youth have organized themselves into resistance units.
In an attempt to curb the anger and protests of the youth so that it does not turn into another nationwide uprising, the Iranian regime has carried out patrols in city streets.
The patrols are carried out to prevent “bad hijab” or “against so-called thugs” and “Corona patrols” under the pretext of observing repressive protocols in Isfahan.
Plan to Deal With “Bad Hijab”
The Friday prayer leader in Isfahan called for “insecurity” in the society for the perpetrators of “discovering the hijab” in the parks and advised the securities to take this issue seriously. He had previously said that “wet wood” should be raised to fight “indecency.” (Radio German Farsi channel reported on 2/10/2020)
The deputy commander of the police force also announced the “planning and implementation of four surveillance projects in cars, passages, department stores, promenades, sidewalks and cyberspace” to combat “indecency.” For more than three decades, the Iranian regime has been repressing, humiliating, and harassing women with more than twenty organs under the pretext of combating ill-treatment.
Apart from the fact that this misogyny arises from the medieval thinking of the regime, it is also through this that the regime controls society.
In addition to the plan to deal with bad hijab, a plan to deal with thugs and corona patrols has also been launched in Isfahan. The head of the judiciary, who is being touted as a possible successor to Khamenei, has stated that the streets and neighborhoods, and the center of evil should not be allowed.
The National Security Council (an organ of control and repression under the Ministry of Interior) ordered the establishment of bases in the provinces and cities to combat these individuals.
The purpose of these camps, which have recently been established in all cities of Iran, is to prevent an uprising in the future. Corona, however, came to the aid of the regime and delayed the uprising. Khamenei had said the regime should make Corona an opportunity.
The opportunity Khamenei seeks is the survival of the regime. And for this reason, the regime is not taking serious action against Corona. However, the three-week campaign to prevent Navid’s execution, on the one hand, and the post-execution reflection, on the other, well proves that the flames of anger can never be extinguished by the regime.
People and Government on Both Sides of Explosive Rage
“Every day the economy is declining approaching the state of disintegration. Economic issues affect livelihoods, culture and norms, but on top of that, there is the distrust that has flourished. … We find a society that no longer trusts the baseless rhetoric of officials, the government, the economy Minister and the Governor of the central bank.” (Arman. September 11, 2020)
What the pro-government media calls “public distrust” is an acknowledgment of anger close to the point of explosion that is now woven into the fabric of Iranian society at both ends of the spectrum. On the one hand, Iranians see a government that is doing everything to hold on to power at the cost of daily executions. On the other hand, there is anger in the society that is distressed and can rise up at any moment.
The regime is constantly undergoing surgery and shrinkages to protect itself. The recent remarks of the former head of the Radio and Television that the narrowing of the circle of insiders continues and even the fundamentalists (Khamenei faction) feel threatened by this practice.
The media affiliated with the Iranian regime constantly warn about the forthcoming eruption. Khamenei knows very well that there is no escape from the outburst of anger. But he seems to be under the illusion that it is possible to nullify most of the society’s revolts by suppressing them. But the hasty executions of demonstrators and the creation of an epidemic of torture, on the one hand, and the “narrowing of the circle of insiders” on the other, does not prevent this detonation.
Setareh Sobh newspaper, August 1, 2020 reported that “The society is distressed and there is a possibility to rise at any moment … If this Match is set alight, it will be very difficult to put out the fire”