A Time of Respite within the Course of the Revolution
22nd Jan-12th Feb
The past three weeks were a period of respite. Dispersed energies of tension and unrest transmuted into elaborate collective reflection following two events.
One was controversies over a campaign for the delegation of the exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi to lead the revolution, and the second was an earthquake in the city of Khoi in northeast Iran which left thousands homeless and more than 1300 injured.
While a dispute over the leadership caused some Iranians to recoil at the prospect of having another tyrannical rulership carved and imported from abroad, others took a break from revolutionary initiatives to attend to a more urgent call and to provide relief for victims of the earthquake.
In the absence of an adequate crisis management program by state emergency services, security forces clamped down on angry residents who protested governments mismanagements. So grassroots aid groups took matters into their hands and citizens, influencers, and celebrities launched campaigns to collect donations and prepared procurements. However, the government blocked charity drives in various manners. the bank account of popular footballer Karim Bagheri who collected donations was blocked.
consignments dispatched by citizens were confiscated by regime forces and were labelled and released later as donations on behalf of regime organizations.
The streets were somewhat quiet during the past two weeks, but in the evenings, anti-regime chantings from rooftops broke off in different neighbourhoods in various cities. Islamic regime didn’t get much time to recuperate as several drone attacks targeted military and defence factories as well. Last week blasts at three sites were reported including, the ammunition depot belonging to Iran’s Defence Ministry in the central Isfahan Province, a drone factory in the northwestern city of Tabriz and another unnamed site in the western Hamadan province. Only the first attack was confirmed by the state media.
Media and commentators assume that Israel appears to be behind recent attacks, which is not an unprecedented event. The shadow war on Iranian regimes’ nuclear and missile programs has been going on for some time. Especially following the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, deliberate and calculated attacks on establishments have become regular. In April 2021 attacks on the Natanz nuclear enrichment site affected the power supply and damaged several centrifuges.
The Iranian public is rather sympathetic to such measures mainly because it doesn’t cause any casualties or threat to the public and stops the Islamic republic from becoming another North Korea. Should mullah’s regime obtain nuclear power all hopes for a regime change and a democratic Iran will be lost.
For the past two weeks, socio-political activism in the form of street protests and revolutionary acts has converted into reckonings, analysis, and systematic preparation. Activists and dissident NGOs started investigating and archiving events of the past months. Activists on social media platforms documented stories received from citizens. Intelligencia started publishing examinations and analyses.
Victims started speaking out about their experiences and even political prisoners formed networks in jail and started sending out group statements and letters from inside the prison. Narges Mohammadi, a human rights activist and spokesperson of the Prisoners’ Human Rights Defenders Center, published a report on the condition of female prisoners in the women’s ward of Evin prison three weeks ago.
30 political and ideological prisoners of Evin signed an open letter demanding the end to the execution of protesters and the unjust sentences of the prisoners. Hundreds of activists of the women’s movement including Bahare Hedayat, a political prisoner in Evin, signed a letter to Farhad Maysami asking him to break his hunger strike.
Farhad Meysami is an Iranian doctor, teacher and civil activist. A non-violent fighter for human rights who has held several hunger strikes during his incarceration since August 2018. His recent photos were compared to those of Auschwitz prisoners which drew further attention to the atrocities of the Iranian regime.
He has made three demands to stop his strike, i.e. stopping the execution of protestors, releasing 6 political-civil prisoners and stopping the harassment of forcing hijab.
Civil society and opposition leaders have supported him in various manners. Labour activists and teachers published a statement in his support, Abdul Hamid, leader of Ahl al-Sunnah Zahedan, also supported him. Students of Tarbiat Modares University staged a sit-in for supporting him.
Diaspora also geared up to address the issue of leadership once and for all. For this purpose, for the first time in 44 years, prominent Iranian opposition figures from diverse political ideologies scheduled to meet to discuss the future of democracy in Iran as a response to the longstanding demand of Iranians to form a unified front against the Islamic Republic. The meeting was held at George Washington University on the eve of the 44th anniversary of the Islamic revolution and televised via 5 Farsi language satellite channels.
This year the regime marked it anniversary while at its most vulnerable. The Fajr film festival which is held annually within 10 days leading to ceremonies was boycotted by so many national and international filmmakers and artists who vowed solidarity with the Iranian people. Movie maker, Kaveh Mozaheri, threw out his prizes from previous Fajr festivals as a sign of protest.
Halls of power witnessed an impoverished show as well. The reception held for foreign ambassadors and envoys was particularly down-and-out.
The government did not release the list of the participants but according to some reports envoys from European countries did not participate in the event — except for Hungary and Poland.
It is while freedom fighters vindicated and burned street decorations at every chance they found.
To address public grievances, Iran’s supreme leader has announced prisoner amnesty to pardon some protesters during the celebrations. The move was dubbed as a sham to abate rancour and win peace, by human rights activists. The regime tries to use propaganda to call the conclusion of protests by releasing a small number of low-level protesters.
Pardoned prisoners are also expected to express remorse and pledge not to repeat security-related offences. The government aims to revive its legitimacy and rebuild its social capital, at least among its hardcore supporters by staging a show of national reconciliation. However, civil society is already criticizing the move. They argue that these prisoners didn’t commit any crime. Peaceful demonstrations are a constitutional civil right and that they shouldn’t have been charged with bogus allegations in the first place.
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It is in this climate that a number of more prominent prisoners were released last week including award-winning Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi, Farhad Meysami, and Armita Abbasi who made headlines at CNN and the Washington Post.
Protesters and victims released immediately turn to their social media and connect to the public. These rebels don’t go quiet but they certainly need to be more diplomatic and constrained in their communications. Many celebrities and influencers who are freed from prison are under restrictive measures by regime forces and intelligence services. While prisoners get set up for forced confessions, released ones are coerced into furtively promoting the agendas of their interrogators.
As such every now and then material is published by them that is not consistent with their personality or aspirations.
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For instance, Shervin Hajipour the Iranian singer-songwriter whose track “Baraye” became the anthem of the revolution of woman life freedom has published posts on his social media following his release which is inconsistent with the character fans and friends know of him. This week he won a Grammy for best song for social change. A video of him watching ceremonies on TV with friends appeared on social media during which he didn’t even show his emotions or rejoice as friends were cheering him.
His response on his Instagram page was one line post: “We Won”. Later the post was removed and replaced by another which criticised the U.S for its intervention in the middle east!
Comments swept through his social media page as fans acknowledged they realise it was a forced statement and counted discrepancies in the text and manner of delivery.
That’s all folks, Thanks for listening and please do come back for another update in a week or two!
