Soccer Fans Tear Down Khamenei, Soleimani Banners In Iran

The former head of the Tehran City Council Mohsen Hashemi has said this week that lack of hope and trust in the future was a factor in the ferocity of the protests.

Prominent sociologist Mohammad Fazeli has also said that hope in the future of Iran has weakened among the public and this casts a shadow of doubt on any solution that the government might offer for long-standing problems.

Pundits from the two extremes in the Iranian political landscape, reformist commentator Abbas Abdi and conservative pundit Mohammad Mohajeri spoke to Tejarat Farda magazine’s issue published in late March about the outlook of Iran's political landscape as the new Iranian year began. The magazine's editor Sadaf Samimi concluded that their views about the future of Iran and what happened last year are strikingly similar.

Abdi opined that the Islamic Republic was under pressure from the protests and the foreign-based opposition.

"I believe the next two years will definitely bring about major changes in Iran." He did not expand on the nature of those changes but said, "Iran has many potentials for improvement, but this does not mean that today's official policies can continue."

Mohajeri said that last year's protests created a very good opportunity for the Iranian regime. Although the protests were threatening the regime, they also signalled dangers that alerted the regime. Mohajeri added that Iranian officials attributed the protests to the intervention of foreign countries, but they realized that the protests have their roots inside the country.

He observed that previous protests in Iran were motivated by economic problems, but this time there was no talk of the economic grievances among the protesters.

"Although everyone knew that there were problems relating to the people's livelihood, and nearly all of those arrested during the protests were coming from the lower strata…the main problems the protesters were concerned about were political and cultural issues.”

The two pundits however agreed that the receding of street protests did not mean that the movement is over. Anything can re-ignite the protests, they said.

Abdi said it is essential that major changes take place in Iran during the next two years, but the Iranian government seems incapable of problem solving. This is a government that does not accept even clear facts such as rising meat prices and in one instance banned a newspaper that published the news. The first thing that should be reformed in Iran is the media, he said that even do not cover recent gas attacks on girls' schools.

On the other hand, the government is not aware of the impact of international reporting, such as CNN's report on torture in Iranian prisons, Abdi said. More competitive election and equality before the law are essential to restore a semblance of normality.

Mohajeri said the people have lost their trust in the government so that even if it disseminated factual news, still people would not believe the government. This trust has been lost over many years.

He said, When the officials promise that the rate of exchange and market prices will come down but the opposite happens, the people have every right not to believe them again. He added: Although I believe the officials have realized the truth following the protests, I still have not received a signal that would indicate the likelihood of an improvement in the next year.

The city’s prominent Sunni cleric, Mowlavi Abdolhamid, delivered another fiery sermon criticizing the regime for its heavy-handed crackdown on protesters, particularly women who have revolted against the Islamic Republic’s compulsory hijab rules. 

Referring to the renewed wave of chemical attacks against schoolgirls across the country, he slammed the authorities who want to use traffic cameras to identify women who remove their headscarves in public but would not use the cameras to arrest the perpetrators of poisonous gas attacks on girls’ schools. 

When the perpetrators of these attacks are not identified in a country which uses numerous surveillance devices, it means that these incidents have "roots in the system". This is why people do not believe the authorities and think that the regime is implicated in the attacks, he said. 

During the past weeks, Abdolhamid had said several times that the chemical attacks are the regime’s revenge against the teenage girls who protested against the Islamic Republic, especially following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September 2022. 

More than 300 schools have been targeted since November 2022, without any apparent effort by the government to seriously pursue the perpetrators or explain to terrified parents and students what was happening in so many schools. 

Earlier in the week, Moineddin Saeedi, a member of the Iranian Parliament from Chabahar in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, also said, "If these cameras can detect crimes to such an extent, why are we currently facing the poisoning of girls?"

The activist account 1500 Tasvir, which runs popular Instagram and Twitter accounts, started uploading the documents on Wednesday.

The account also published a large batch of harrowing photos and videos of people shot or killed by the regime late in March, saying that such documentation must remain forever in the country’s history.

The cause of death for hundreds of people who died during the protests of "Women, Life, Liberty” movement is stated as "unknown", and the death certificates of dozens of others attested the use of "live fire and bullets" as the cause of death.

Other causes of death mentioned in the certificates are ruptures of veins or blood vessels, crushing of the skull, hemorrhagic shock (loss of a large volume of blood), and severe tissue damage, all of which point to injuries caused by the security forces’ bullets and batons.

In several cases, the words live fire or bullet are intentionally avoided and replaced by alternative terms such as "accelerated metal projectile" or “metal object."

There are several cases in which the cause of death is declared as “unknown” despite testimonies by eyewitnesses who were present at the scene and directly testified otherwise. These include the cases of Mehrshad Shahidinejad and Sina Malayeri, two protesters who were beaten to death by batons during rallies in the city of Arak according to eyewitnesses.

In one of the certificates published by 1500tasvir, the cause of the death of Behnam Layeghpour was declared as “violence by other protesters” despite his family's account of the incident. Layeghpour was reportedly shot two times in his throat and chest from close range in October as his fiancée was watching. A security agent stood over him and prevented people from helping him at gunpoint.

Human rights sources have reported the death of over 500 protesters, including about 70 children, during nationwide protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of hijab police in September 2022.

There are no official reports about the number of casualties but several rights groups, such as the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), have put the death toll at way more than 500.

In addition to the people who were killed during the regime’s crackdown on street protests, the Islamic Republic has also stepped up its executions in the past several months.

Iran Human Rights organization and the ECPM (Ensemble contre la peine de mort or Together Against the Death Penalty) released on Thursday their latest annual report on the death penalty in Iran, revealing that 2022 had the highest annual number of executions since 2015. At least 582 people were executed, an increase of 75 percent compared to 2021.

The report said that in 2022, the Islamic Republic’s authorities “demonstrated how crucial the death penalty is to instil societal fear in order to hold onto power,” adding that 88 percent of all executions (511), were not announced by the regime.

According to the report, at least 15 people, among them two protesters, were executed for security-related charges. It also claimed that hundreds of protesters were facing show trials at the Revolutionary Courts, many with charges punishable by death.

The student groups said gatherings, sit-ins, and theatrical performances will be held on Saturday as a response to the new forcible measures by the government. 

"After the end of Nowruz holidays and the reopening of universities, the Islamic Republic has started to implement the so-called 'verbal reminder’ of hijab observance, inside the university campuses,” read their statement.

In fact, the clerical regime and its hardliner supporters issue threats to women and new restrictive measures almost daily to try to force then to wear hijab.

As part of humiliation tactics, hijab enforcers have been placed at universities across the country to prevent students who do not observe the compulsory dress code from entering campuses. Clashes between students and the hijab enforcers were also reported in the past several days. 

“The brutal behavior and the presence of repressive forces at universities, the gender segregation of entrance gates for male and female students, the absolute disregard of the students’ rights, and finally the heavy presence of repressive forces in and around universities to deprive us from one of our most basic rights (the right to choose clothing) will not be tolerated any longer," added the statement. 

The call for protest was issued by over a dozen groups and organizations formed by students from several cities, including those in Esfahan (Isfahan) University, Esfahan University of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares Beheshti, Al-Zahra and Sanandaj universities, as well as the University of Tehran. 

Iran's universities were one of the main centers of protests during the nationwide uprising following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody of hijab police in September 2022. In order to suppress the protests, the security force repeatedly attacked the universities and arrested hundreds of students. A large number of students have also been banned, expelled and suspended by university administrators.

According to Iran’s Student Union Council on Tuesday, more than 430 students have been suspended or expelled following the recent protests across the country “through an illegal process.”

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says that 637 students from 144 universities have been arrested since mid-September. There are other sources which have put the number at well over 700. 

Earlier in the month, the ministry of higher education announced that universities will no longer offer educational, welfare and other services to the students who disregard the hijab.

Earlier in the week, the student organizations of the University of Arts called the new measures "cheap, insulting and intolerable.” Many female students have received warning text messages, as the country announced new surveillance measures to catch hijab rebels this week. 

The students are angry about the regime’s crackdown but have repeatedly announced that they would not back down from their newly achieved freedom.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Council stated that "A significant number of students have received suspension and expulsion orders through an illegal process."

Iran's student movement gained momentum last year amid the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. Universities were the scene of large anti-regime demonstrations.

According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), 637 students from 144 universities have been arrested since mid-September.

Some sources inside Iran have also announced that the number of detained students is more than 700.

Last week, the ministry of higher education said institutions under its coverage will no longer offer educational and other services to students who do not abide by hijab rules.

“All universities and higher education institutions under the coverage of the ministry of sciences, research and technology will not be obliged to offer educational, welfare and other services to the few students who do not abide by the laws and regulations of the universities in this regard,” the ministry said in the statement Monday.

An ever-increasing number of women and university students have been casting off their compulsory hijab since the beginning of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement seven months ago but hardliners are now taking a much more aggressive approach to punish and them and enforce the Islamic dress code.