While Iran’s regime is engulfed in crises at home and abroad, on April 13, it launched another wave of suppression, terror, and fear. It is not surprising because oppression and suffocation have always been the essence of this regime, but it is strange that in these circumstances, where their concerns about the exacerbation of challenges have increased, why are they seeking to create more crises and give more reasons to enrage the people?
This insane behavior is even unacceptable to many elements and insiders of the regime. They question the leaders of the regime, asking, “Why are they engaging in such behaviors? Why do they want to revive the cycle of repression once again?”
On April 20, the state-run Ham-Mihan newspaper wrote, “This form of public confrontation will only result in the spread of hatred and, of course, increase distrust… This confrontational approach in the streets opens the door to infiltration, and a situation like what happened to Mahsa Amini may occur again, and of course, the subsequent incidents. In other words, even if we proceed according to their own interpretation, we must quickly put an end to this process that is currently observed on the streets to close the grounds for infiltration.”
In fact, they fail to understand why, in these critical economic conditions with the dollar exchange rate nearing 700,000 rials and exorbitant prices of goods, they are fixated on the issue of hijab and unleashing their most savage forces for against women and girls.
On April 15, the state-run Setareh Sobh newspaper wrote, “Unfortunately, we have turned a blind eye to the main issue, which is the root cause of corruption. We have disregarded what can prevent poverty, unemployment, addiction, and other societal problems, and instead, our focus is on the hijab, which is not the cause of the current situation.”
The existing confusion is not limited to specific media outlets or fringe elements of the regime. Even members of the Expediency Discernment Council do not see any benefit for the regime in addressing these “non-essential issues.”
On April 13, Eslahat newspaper quoted Mohammad Reza Aref, a member of the Council, as saying, “While people are grappling with numerous livelihood problems, decision-makers prioritize non-essential issues.”
In response to the confusion and internal turmoil, regime officials have tried to explain the current conditions to their forces. In their comments, they allude to the regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s intentions and objectives and argue that the issue of hijab is merely superficial, and the real issue is regime change and the regime’s existential crisis.
Mehdi Rahimabadi, the Friday Prayer leader of Brijand, said, “The issue is not about these two strands of hair; there are a thousand finer points than hair. The issue is about overthrowing, about eliminating the state.” (Source: Regime’s television, April 12).
Other regime clerics have followed the same tune and provided reasons, stating, “If we only focus on the issue of hijab and chastity, it doesn’t end there, and that’s not the goal… Their intention is the destruction of the Islamic Republic system… The issue of hijab is both a religious and legal matter, as well as a political and security issue.”
Therefore, the leaders of the regime admit, in their own words, that the issue of hijab is an “excuse” for the repressive actions of the clerical regime, and preserving the regime is the goal. If Khamenei has once again expanded the suppression of women and society, it is because he is fully aware of the internal and regional challenges that the regime faces. He is aware of the protests and dissatisfactions of various sectors, as well as the region’s failed warmongering and the exposure of his regime as “the head of the snake.” He is also aware of the continued activities of rebellious youth against the regime’s centers of repression throughout the country. Consequently, he knows that everything is ready for a crisis to explode. Therefore, he has deployed his repressive forces to the streets and is keeping them on standby, so as not to let the powder keg explode and the situation easily transform into an uprising.
So, the launch of the hijab and chastity campaign amidst warmongering in the region is not at all a coincidence but rather a well-targeted and planned effort. This coincidence demonstrates that the external crisis and internal repression are two sides of the same coin of preserving the crisis-prone regime. Both serve the purpose of diverting attention from the fundamental problem and contradiction in society, which is the religious tyranny governing the country – the very contradiction that has remained unresolved and boiling for over four decades.
The regime’s futile attempt to delay its inevitable downfall with these maneuvers will only further sink it into more crises. All signs indicate that the people of Iran, along with their Resistance movement and Resistance Units, are surely moving toward another revolution.
