Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, October 1, 2020—In recent days, many state-run media have warned for the explosive state of Iran’s society a repeat of the November 2019 major protests.
Hossein Nouraninejad, a journalist affiliated with the so-called reformist current, told the daily Etemad on Wednesday: “[The November protests] are not over. Now and then, the wounds of those catastrophic days reopen and burn the soul of society.” Nouraninejad added, “The last incident was the suicide of Amir Hossein Moradi’s father, who was one of the arrested of those days… The result of the revolts was the announcement of the high and unexpected number of dead and wounded, which showed the extent of violent protests.”
Following criticism by Majlis (parliament) members against Iranian regime President Hassan Rouhani during the last Majlis session, the daily Jahan-e Sanat warned on Wednesday: “The defeat of Rouhani is not only the defeat of the reformist government, but the people will also hold everyone accountable.”
The paper also added, “Hassan Rouhani said If the people want to blame somebody for country’s problems and shortcomings they must curse the White House in Washington but an MP stated that the people say in response, may God curse Rouhani.”
That claim, of course, had its own extreme backlash from regime officials.
The daily Arman, affiliated to the terrorist-designated Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), highlighted the regime’s crisis of collapse and wrote, “The citizens are hopeless and do not believe the situation can be reformed.” Arman added that the only standing in the way of the people’s outrage is the “fear of suppression.”
“If the current gap between the people and the political power persists, the situation will become more critical,” the daily Etemad warned.
Aftab Yazd, another state-run newspaper, wrote: “There is hate and rage within the people and therefore they have aggressive reactions.”
Setareyeh Sobh wrote: “The youth are fed up. They are waiting. It was just two weeks ago when social media users tweeted 12 million times the hashtag ‘do not execute’ in protest to death sentences for three youths arrested during the November 2019 incidents. If this match is lit, putting down the fire will be very difficult.”
The daily Ebtekar warned, “Living conditions have reached an alarming point and if the hungry launch a movement, it can’t be considered a civil protest.”
In response, Javan, another IRGC-affiliated newspaper, warned media outlets that these kinds of articles will portray the image of a collapsing regime and this will turn all the pressures, sanctions, and dissatisfactions into an internal insurrection and riots and result in the downfall of the establishment.
Another uprising on the horizon
Since November 2019 nationwide protests various regime officials and state-run media have constantly warned about upcoming protests and described the uprising as “not finished.”
These fears are not misplaced, and the nature of the protests that had targeted the regime in its entirety proves their veracity. People chanted slogans such as “Reformists, hardliners, the game is over,” “Down with Rouhani and Khamenei,” and “We don’t want the Islamic Republic,” clearly showing their rejection of all currents in the regime. The Iranian people have expressed their desire to overthrow the regime in five nationwide uprisings since 2018, and despite the regime’s violent response, protests continue in many Iranian cities today.
This is why many regime insiders constantly warn for the powder-keg situation. But the reality is that given the current situation the regime is at an impasse and has nowhere to go. Rouhani tries desperately to blame the U.S. for the current collapsing crisis; the hardliners blame Rouhani’s government policies; both have acknowledged that they are in a sinking ship and they will drown together.
