Why Khamenei cannot end Iran’s relentless uprising
The protests in Iran have continued for nearly two months now and people in the streets of cities across the country are describing this latest uprising as a “revolution”. While the mullahs’ regime has been going the distance to quell the Iranian people’s demonstrations and protests, all signs indicate that this nation is determined to continue the current momentum with the objective of toppling the ayatollahs’ dictatorship.
To this day Iran’s dictator, Ali Khamenei, has on several occasions downplayed the uprising and even claimed the protests have come to a halt.
—October 3: “In this incident, as in all other cases, the nation turned out strong!” Khamenei said, downgrading the uprising to an “incident” and deliberately using past tense as if the protests had come to an end.
—October 12: While meeting with the head and members of the regime’s Expediency Council, Khamenei described the uprising as “sporadic disturbances” and “irrelative incidents”, adding officials should not lose their focus.
—October 14: “That small plant has now grown into a strong tree. No one should even dare think about cutting it down!” Khamenei said in a meeting with senior regime officials and guests of a “unity conference” referring to the protesters calls of uprooting his regime and its entire apparatus.
—October 19: “Following the passing of [regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini] in 1989, there were various people, including some with significant experience, who issued a statement saying ‘the state is at the edge of a cliff. However, we did not surrender and are still standing!” This is a step back from Khamenei’s previous claims, as if the mere survival of his regime is all that matters.
—November 2: “The nation truly delivered a slap in the face of ill-wishers and left them in failure,” Khamenei said at a gathering of hand-picked school children, while once again resorting to using past tense to claim the uprising has come to an end.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The situation on the grounds paints a completely different picture, as we saw major protests erupt in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, just one day after Khamenei’s last remarks, only to be continued with another major surge of protests in Khash in the restive Sistan & Baluchestan Province of southeast Iran.
Jafar Ghaderi, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) made some telling remarks recently on November 4, acknowledging that the mullahs, and their vast apparatus of security forces, cannot “uproot the protests.” Following a long speech about how the state should allow protesters voice their complaints and how the current situation should be managed to distinguish between “protests” from “disturbances”, Ghaderi admitted what Khamenei refuses to publicly acknowledge: “There is no doubt that we cannot uproot the current protests.”
This coming from a member of the regime’s Majlis who are vigorously vetted prior to even becoming a candidate, is damning to the core for Khamenei and his entire regime.
While the mullahs’ dictator may not admit it, and while the uprising across Iran may face some ups and downs in the process, the past two months have proven that this round of protests by the Iranian people differ significantly from the past.
If Khamenei has or had the ability to quell the uprising as he did in November 2019 and prior to that, why hasn’t he? Doesn’t the very continuation of Iran’s protests, with its natural ups and downs, prove that Khamenei and his regime no longer bear the ability to silence the Iranian people?
Time will tell, and time is not on Khamenei’s side. The longer this uprising continues, the more people will be encouraged to take to the streets and join the protesters’ ranks across Iran. And the longer this uprising continues, the more isolated Khamenei’s regime will become as the international community begins to stand alongside the Iranian people.