Protests in Iran end due to mass executions
2023.01.10 12:57
Protests in Iran end due to mass executions
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – After months of anti-government unrest, Iran’s hanging of protesters and display of their lifeless bodies suspended from cranes appear to have instilled enough fear to keep people off the streets.
Iran’s hardline rulers are likely to maintain their belief that suppressing dissent is the only way to maintain power given the success of the crackdown on the worst political upheaval in years.
However, experts and analysts who spoke with Reuters believe that the achievement may not last long. They argue that the use of deadly state violence is merely suppressing dissent and escalating ordinary Iranians’ resentment toward the religious establishment that has ruled them for four decades.
Saeid Golkar of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga said, “It has been relatively successful since the number of people on the streets has decreased.” He was referring to the crackdown and the executions.
“However, it has stoked a tremendous amount of animosity among Iranians.”
Hadi Ghaemi, the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran’s executive director, stated that the establishment’s primary goal was to intimidate the population into submission through any means possible.
“The protests have changed, but they have not ended. Because they are determined to continue fighting, people are either in prison or have gone underground,” he stated.
Iran has handed down dozens of death sentences to intimidate Iranians enraged by the death of Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, 22, despite public outrage and international criticism.
In September 2022, she died while being held by morality police. This brought out years of unresolved resentment in society over issues like economic hardship, discrimination against ethnic minorities, and tightening social and political controls.
The judiciary says that since the demonstrations started, at least four people have been hanged. Two protesters were hanged on Saturday for allegedly killing a member of the volunteer Basij militia forces.
Last month, Amnesty International reported that in “sham trials designed to intimidate protesters,” Iranian authorities are seeking the death penalty for at least 26 others.
Experts say that the religious leadership’s consistent approach to government since the 1979 Islamic Revolution brought it to power is reflected in these actions: a willingness to use force to crush opposition.
“The primary strategy of the regime has always been to win by terrorizing. Golkar stated, “The regime is incompetent, incapable of change, and the only solution is suppression.”
Since the hangings began, protests have slowed significantly and are now mostly restricted to the Sunni-populated areas of Iran. They were most intense there.
However, due to the fact that the protesters’ grievances have not been addressed, analysts asserted, a revolutionary spirit that managed to spread across the nation during the months of protest may still survive the security crackdown.
Many Iranians are suffering from galloping inflation and rising unemployment as their economic misery worsens, largely as a result of sanctions imposed by the United States over Tehran’s disputed nuclear activities.
Over 50% inflation is the highest level in decades. According to reports from Iran’s Statistics Center, youth unemployment remains high and more than half of Iranians are living below the poverty line.
Ghaemi stated, “The regime cannot go back to the era before Mahsa’s death.” There is no turning point (back to the status quo).
According to Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, Tehran was relying on repression and violence to solve the problem.
Vatanka stated, “This might work in the short term but… it won’t work in the long term.” She cited Iran’s deteriorating economy and the fearless young population’s desire for “big political change, and they will fight for it” as reasons.
There are no indications that any leaders, including President Ebrahim Raisi, are attempting to devise novel policies in an effort to woo the public. Their focus instead appears to be on security.
According to the analysts, the clerical leadership seems to be concerned that showing restraint toward protesters might make them appear weak to their political and paramilitary supporters.
For comment, Reuters was unable to reach representatives at Raisi’s office.
Golkar stated that the leadership’s need to satisfy core supporters in organizations like the Basij, the volunteer militia that has been instrumental in countering the spontaneous and leaderless unrest, was an additional reason for the executions.
Golkar stated, “The regime wants to send a message to its supporters that it will support them in any way.”
A number of well-known people, including athletes, artists, and rappers, were subjected to travel bans and prison sentences by the authorities to cause outrage. Among those executed was a karate champion.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, said in a televised speech on Monday that those who “set fire to public places have committed treason with no doubt” and that the country has no plans to ease its crackdown.
A major focus of Raisi’s career has been wielding uncompromising state power. He is subject to sanctions from the United States due to his past, which includes, according to activists and the United States, his oversight of the execution of thousands of political prisoners in the 1980s.
When questioned about those murders in the 1980s, Raisi stated to reporters shortly after his election in 2021 that he deserved praise for defending the people’s safety.
According to Ghaemi, the principal officials pushing for executions today were deeply involved in the slaying of prisoners in the 1980s.
He continued, “But this is not the 1980s when they carried out all those crimes in the dark.” Everything they do is shared on social media and gets a lot of attention from all over the world.”
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