Pundits In Iran Point To Corruption As Cause Of Current Protests

In an interview with Ensaf News on Monday, Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani said that the list had been available since at least 2020 but security authorities pushed to bury the list of high-risk buildings in Tehran. Ensaf News last week published the list, citing the fire department.

Ghodratollah Mohammadi, the new head of Tehran Fire Department, who said on Sunday that "we will definitely publish the list of 129 high-risk buildings in Tehran with the coordination of the prosecutor's office," rejected the validity of the list on Monday. "It is invalid and has nothing to do with the Tehran fire department," he said.

He had said on Sunday that there are more than three thousand cases of such buildings in the capital.

The issue of unsafe buildings has become hot as protests began last Monday, when a 10-story building collapsed in Abadan, leaving 34 people dead and an equal number missing. It quickly became apparent that the owner was a powerful and well-connected businessman who had disregarded regulations and building codes, being backed by officials, who might have had their own financial interests.

Anti-government protests continue in Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province as large number of security forces have been mobilized to crack down.

Videos and reports published on social media show tens of security forces on each street, preventing movement of people in Abadan, and the government resorting to tear gas for dispersing crowds before gatherings could get larger. In some videos firing of military weapons are also heard but news coming out of Abadan is sketchy.

Disruption of internet access by the government in the restive Khuzestan province where Abadan is located has drastically reduced the flow of information about ongoing events. Cutting access to the Internet is a routine practice during protests to prevent information from spreading to other parts of the country and videos of government violence being shred.

Reports by activists on Monday spoke of many arrests in Abadan and other cities in Khuzestan. Some of these arrests target whole families if one member is seen in the protests.

But protests took place in Bushehr port city on the Persian Gulf and in the capital Tehran and some suburbs, despite a heavy presence of security forces, who appear both as special anti-riot troops and plainclothesmen who mingle near the protesters. Pockets of protesters defied security forces and chanted “Death to the dictator” and other slogans against the ruler of the Islamic Republic Ali Khamenei. They also chanted, “It is a lie America is our enemy, Our enemy is right here.”

Protests began a week ago in the south-western, oil-rich province after a 10-story building collapsed killing and trapping dozens of people. So far, authorities say they have pulled out 34 bodies and an equal number is estimated to be missing.

They also claimed that the owner was among the dead, which many people did not believe, as it quickly became clear that he was well-connected with powerful officials and some witnesses claimed they had seen him leaving the building before it collapsed. Authorities who had said immediately after the incident that the owner, Hossein Abdolbaghi was arrested, changed the story the next day and presented a badly damaged corpse as evidence of his death. Rumors began circulating that he fled to Turkey.

Evidence of systematic corruption at all levels of government has been piling up for years, which coupled with deteriorating economic conditions drive many people to question the legitimacy of the government.

The central government in Tehran was also slow to sympathize with the people of Abadan and send rescue reinforcements but was able to dispatch more security forces anticipating protests. Khamenei failed to mention the incident for three days and then issue a message of condolences to Abadan.

But the incident came after protests in mid-May against rising prices had already rocked the province and a tense situation prevailed in western and south-western Iran.

Activists and observers have been wondering if Tehran and other large cities would join the protests. First signs of defiance emerged Monday after thousands of people who gathered in Tehran’s Azadi stadium for a match chanted slogans in support of protests in Abadan and repeating the same popular chants of ‘death to the dictator’ and ‘America is not our enemy’. Later in the night videos showed sporadic demonstrations in the capital’s suburbs.

The Monday match between Esteghlal and Naft Masjed Soleyman FC ended in a goalless draw, but it was more than enough for Tehran’s Blues to clinch the championship of the current season of Iran’s Premier League.

During the match as well as during the celebrations after the match, spectators were heard chanting slogans in solidarity with the people of Abadan, who have been holding protests since last Monday following the collapse of a 10-story building that left 33 people dead and about 30 missing. It quickly became apparent that the owner and builder was a well-connected businessman who had disregarded regulations and building codes, being backed by officials, who might have had their own financial interests.

Videos surfaced on social media on Monday showing a large group of people from Khorramshahr, another city in Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province, marching towards Abadan to support the popular protests there.

In previous days, there were protests in several cities in Khuzestan, such as Andimeshk and Masjed Soleiman, where people gathered to voice their support for protesters in Abadan, where grief for the victims and anti-government outrage have fused into a potent anger.

Amid the tense situation in the city Sunday night, Arab tribal groups began streaming into Abadan and warned the security forces that if they shot the people, tribes would resort to weapons to defend them.

In a statement released on Monday, the Workers Syndicate of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company said the voice of the people who are suffering from corruption in the government cannot be silenced by deception and crackdown.

They said the culprits of the disaster are the authorities who turned a blind eye to corruption and permitted the construction of the building by unreliable people who took advantage of nepotism and connections with government officials.

The statement goes on to say that authprities with all their means and tools of repression are trying to silence the voices of the families of the victims and the and the demands of the people in Abadan and other cities in Khuzestan and elsewhere in the country, and “as usual, they respond to any protest with bullets, batons and tear gas.”

Anti-government protests have been taking place since last week in several cities across Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province as well as in other cities in support of the people of Abadan with security forces firing tear gas and shots to disperse the crowds.

Protests began last week, when on Monday a 10-story building collapsed in Abadan, leaving 32 people dead and an equal number missing. The people of Shahinshahr in the central Esfahan province and Bandar Abbas in the southern province of Hormozgan also held protest rallies to show their solidarity with the people of Abadan, whose mourning ceremonies for the victims of the Metropol twin towers have turned into anti-government protests since Wednesday.

It quickly became apparent that the owner and builder was a powerful and well-connected businessman who had disregarded regulations and building codes, backed by officials, who might have had their own financial interests.

The Iranian Writers Association also issued a statement saying the state media tried to hide facts and information about the tragedy by describing the building as not complete and publishing false figures on injured and missing persons.

They condemned the government’s “clumsy show aimed at covering up corruption institutionalized in state agencies and institutions,” saying the authorities’ first reaction to the tragedy was not sending relief crews, but dispatching anti-riot forces, cutting off Internet access, and misinformation.

The association also said the ongoing clampdown on the protesters is reminiscent of the November 2019 protests, the bloodiest in Iran’s history with security forces opening fire on demonstrators in many cities, killing hundreds. Thousand were arrested and jailed without due process of law and there were numerous reports of torture in prison.

In another statement published on Sunday, headlined, "Put Down Your Gun,” a group of filmmakers and actors called on security forces responsible for suppressing the popular protests to lay down their weapons.

Now, that public outrage over corruption, theft, inefficiency, repression and suffocation has created a wave of popular protests, "we call on all those who have become agents of repression in the military units to lay down their weapons and return to the embrace of the nation."

Protests began last week, when on Monday a 10-story building collapsed in Abadan, leaving 31 people dead and an equal number missing. It quickly became apparent that the owner and builder was a powerful and well-connected businessman who had disregarded regulations and building codes, being backed by officials, who might have had their own financial interests.

As the government dispatched more anti-riot special forces to Khuzestan, south-western Iran, the atmosphere Sunday night in the city of Abadan was tense. A large crowd seemed ready to confront government forces. First, the anti-riot troops started using tear gas and guns. Shots were fired as some vodeos showed security forces poitning their guns at protesters and shooting.

News from Abadan, which is home to the Middle East’s oldest oil refinery, is sketchy because the government blocked mobile internet access to prevent news and videos from leaking out. If large protests spread to other cities and provinces, it could pose a serious danger to the Islamic Republic’s rulers.

But one incident in Abadan was clear. The most senior cleric appointed by Supreme Leader Ali khameni tried to speak to the crowd but was booed, pelted and shouted down. He had to leave the scene.

Amid the tense situation in the city Sunday night, Arab tribal groups began streaming into Abadan with their banners and warned the security forces that if they shot the people, tribes would resort to weapons to defend them. Khuzestan is home to Iran’s Arab population, which live side by side with Persians and other ethnic groups. The province is the oil industry center of the country, where people from different parts of the country find jobs.

Some videos showed that at one point security forces pulled back after the warning from the tribes and crowds were marching in main streets without being attacked.

Iran International received reports of large-scale arrests in Khuzestan on Saturday, as the government tried to round-up potential protest leaders and activists.

In Masjed Soleiman, another oil industry city, people gathered to voice their support for protesters in Abadan, where grief for the victims of the building collapse and anti-government outrage have fused into a potent anger. People in Andimeshk, another Khuzestan city also marched in protest.

In previous days, there were protests also in several other cities in Khuzestan but the whole picture from Sunday night is still unclear and it is hard to say what transpired elsewhere in the province.

Security forces were also on alert outside Khuzestan, with heavy presence and patrols in Shahin Shahr, near the historic city of Esfahan in central Iran. As residents tried to gather to express solidarity with Abadan, security forces intervened to stop the gathering. Again, details are sketchy.

On Sunday, before the start of night-time protests, around one hundred film industry figures issued a statement calling on security forces to lay down their weapons and not fire at protesters. The phrase, “Lay down the gun,” from the statement quickly spread on social media.

There were unconfirmed reports on Twitter that the government began rotating some security forces, allegedly to make sure that units more willing to confront protesters would be deployed in sensitive spots.