Weeks into the destructive war in Gaza, Iran’s regime has been using the mayhem as a tool to divert attention from its crises and project itself as the sole protector of the Muslim people. Ironically, the one place where the regime’s propaganda has had the least effect is inside Iran.
On November 3, during the Friday prayers in Arak, Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi, the representative of regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei in the Markazi province and former Minister of Intelligence, said, “After Friday prayers, we take 10 steps from the mosque’s entrance, 100 meters, 200 meters, chanting ‘Death to Israel, Death to America.’ This is a spontaneous action without any cost!”
On November 4, the state-run Etemad newspaper quoted Abbas Abdi, a journalist and prominent member of the so-called “reformist” faction, as saying, “While in most countries around the world, especially Arab and Islamic nations, there have been popular protests against the crimes committed by Israel, some of which involved hundreds of thousands of people, here in Iran, the groups claiming to advocate for this struggle have failed to even organize a gathering of a few hundred people. This is not just a failure; it is a complete dissolution.”
On October 16, the state-run Ofoq network quoted journalist Mohammad Quchani as saying, “I am astonished and amazed by the protests and marches taking place around the world and comparing them to Iran.” In analyzing this, he said, “I feel that the issue of Palestine is no longer a priority for our people.”
However, some analysts within the regime attribute this reaction to the “defiance” by the people towards the regime and say, “The people don’t have an issue with Gaza and Lebanon; they have an issue with the regime. They want to challenge the regime.”
In Etemad newspaper, on November 2, Ali Rabiei, an intelligence figure and a member of the Rouhani government referred to this widespread public refusal as “national obstinacy.”
Regime officials and analysts want to distort this political and social reality of Iranian society. They pretend that this phenomenon is related to the “change in the mentality of the Iranian people towards the Palestinian issue” or the people prioritizing their livelihood issues and similar matters. However, this national reaction demonstrates that the people of Iran are fully aware of the deceitful tactics of the regime and will not allow it to recruit them for its evil purposes.
This awareness of the destructive goals of the clerical regime extends beyond the Iranian people and has become apparent to others as well. An Arab analyst wrote in the Al-Arab newspaper on October 19: “Historically, the Iranian regime has shown no genuine concern for the Palestinian cause and has never demonstrated any assistance for the survival or refuge of a Palestinian.”
The Iranian people know that these warmongering deceptions are merely a cover-up for the main conflict, which is between the entire Iranian people and the dictatorial regime ruling Iran. The people’s awareness has been heard for years in various protests and uprisings throughout the country, where they chant the slogan: “Our enemy is right here…”