Status: 02/11/2023 1:32 p.m
After months of protests against the Iranian government, tens of thousands of its supporters have now gathered to celebrate the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. President Raisi took this as an opportunity to declare the “riots” a failure.
In Iran, tens of thousands of people have gathered on the country’s streets. In many cities they are celebrating the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, which commemorates the uprising under revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini in February 1979, which deposed the Shah and ended the monarchy in Iran.
In the capital Tehran, according to an AFP reporter, many people walked and waved flags to Freedom Square, where drones and missiles made by Iran were on display. Many waved Iranian flags, carried portraits of supreme spiritual leader Ali Khamenei, and chanted slogans like “Down with the US,” “Down with Israel,” “Down with Britain.”
Raisi: Protest failed
During his speech, President Ebrahim Raisi declared the nationwide protests against the government, which had been going on for months, to be a failure. “The Iranian people have failed the foreign enemies’ project of unrest and media warfare.” This neutralized another foreign-controlled conspiracy and won another victory for the revolution.
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,” Raisi said. He accused foreign countries – namely the USA – of directing and financing the protests in order to stop progress in Iran.
Protesters set fire to US and UK flags.
Image: via REUTERS
protests continue
Regardless of Raisi’s claims, system critics are sticking to their protests against the government and for more women’s rights. Although there are fewer street demonstrations, the protest continues in other forms.
More and more women are ignoring the headscarf requirement in public and are therefore opposed to Islamic regulations. There are also increasing calls for a constitutional amendment and a referendum to determine the country’s new political course.
Overall, the situation in Iran is deteriorating. In addition to the protests against the government, the financial and economic crisis is also worsening. The national currency, the rial, has fallen sharply in value and there is no sign of an improvement in the situation. Reason are, among other things, international sanctions that were imposed in connection with the nuclear dispute. In addition, there are sanctions and isolation of the country due to the violent crackdown on the demonstrators.
Tens of thousands of prisoners pardoned
To mark the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, Shiite leader Khamenei pardoned tens of thousands of prisoners. Among them are demonstrators arrested by the Revolutionary Guards during the protests that have been going on since September.
The Revolutionary Guards are the elite unit of the armed forces and more powerful than the classic army. You report directly to Khamenei, who has the final say in all strategic matters.
160 people linked to Revolutionary Guards
A small inquiry from the left faction in the Bundestag to the Federal Ministry of the Interior revealed that 160 people who have a connection to Germany also have connections to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. The response from the Federal Ministry of the Interior is available to the dpa. Not all people know to what extent they are currently in Germany. According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Quds unit of the Revolutionary Guards is also active in secret services.
According to earlier information from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, many of the more than 200,000 people with an Iranian migration background in Germany are critical of the Iranian regime. It has been clear for years that members of Iranian government agencies have an “interest in investigating” these members of the opposition.
The domestic policy spokeswoman for the left-wing parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Martina Renner, called for better protection for Iranian exile opposition members in the “Welt am Sonntag”. The Revolutionary Guards also posed a threat to Israelis, Jews and Iranian opposition members in Germany. “The authorities must increase the pressure to prosecute and, where necessary, draw diplomatic consequences, such as the withdrawal of diplomatic immunity or the expulsion of agents,” she told the newspaper .