Iran’s Clerical Regime Unable To Deal With Generation Z
After two weeks of protests and uprising in Iran, the country's media and politicians are beginning to know one of the key players fighting for change.
After two weeks of protests and uprising in Iran, the country's media and politicians are beginning to know one of the key players fighting for change.
Iran's Generation Z is a generation like no other. The country's ruthless security forces realized this as soon as they set foot in the streets that have been turned into battlefields. They seem to be the first generation of Iranians who not only stand face to face with the security forces, but they also fight back after every attack.
They do not mind hitting and kicking policemen and militia that shoot at them often at point blank range. And they have no respect whatsoever, for the teachings and favorite lifestyle of the Islamic Republic and its clerics. They want one thing: Change; most notably a regime change.
In an article on the conservative news website Nameh News, the website's editor Mosrtafa Sadeghi wrote that "The Iranian government can neither completely suppress this new generation, nor it can ignore them." Sadeghi noted that ignoring the Generation Z will only lead to their radicalization.
He is probably right. It was the first time after 43 years that Iran's security forces in Qom were attacked by Molotov Cocktails.
According to Sadeghi those who are carrying out the ongoing uprising are neither like the working class that revolted in 2017, nor like the Middle Class that mourned for the victims of the downing of a Ukrainian airliner in 2020. They are a new generation that has baffled politicians and security forces alike. Sadeghi further said: "They are neither left nor right winger. They are rebels. They are the children of social media who have staged a rebellion against the country's decision-makers and traditional media they no longer trust. Instead, they turn to foreign-based media."
"They follow a different lifestyle, spend time at cafes and take long walks with friends while discussing cultural issues. At the same time, they want to know why so many restrictions have been imposed on them," Sadeghi wrote. The ruling clerics wish to dictate their own lifestyle upon them, but they won't take it.
Like Sadeghi, Mahmoud Vaezi, the former Chief of Staff of ex-President Hassan Rouhani, suggests that "the government should try to understand this new generation and listen to their demands." He said in an interview on Thursday, that what is happening these days in Iran is far more violent than the protests in 2019, when security forces killed at least 1,500 protesters. But like hardliner officials of the current government, Vaezi warned that no one should be allowed to take advantage of the protests and destroy public property.
In a symbolic gesture that reveals a bit of what the new generation is looking for, a video on social media show children at a school in Tehran replacing the picture of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic with a poster carrying one of the main slogans of the uprising in Iran: "Women, Life, Freedom."
Since the early 1980s, the Islamic Republic has violently suppressed all resistance against its dictatorship, never apologized for its mistakes, and has never been accountable for its crimes against humanity and violation of human rights, but this new generation, the Generation Z, has shown at least during the past two weeks, that it is posing a tough challenge that the Islamic Republic might find difficult or even impossible to tackle
Spearheaded by Hamed Esmaeilion, the Canada-based spokesman for the families of victims of Ukrainian flight PS752, shot down by Iran in January 2020, the worldwide protests are scheduled to be held in many capitals of the world as well as many other cities. Demonstrators will congregate outside the Islamic Republic’s embassies on Saturday, October 1.
Iranians have never experienced such unanimity and unity for a common goal, which seems to be the collapse of the regime in Tehran. This time the protests in Iran are not limited to a specific geographic location or a social group such as teachers, retirees or the urban poor.
Since the death of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody of the hijab – or so-called morality police -- daily protests in Iran have continued while the authorities keep threatening the people and increasing repression against protesters and celebrities.
Revolution in the Fall
Late-September is when students go back to classes in Iran, but this fall they are on strike and going out to streets. Hundreds of university professors have also announced they would not hold classes unless all their detained students are freed. Prisons are getting more crowded every day as authorities arrest more protesters.
In a video posted on Twitter Wednesday, a truck driver said some drivers have been on strike for three days but have not been able to inform others of their call to strike due to internet disruptions by the government. On Thursday, the coordination council of oil industry workers issued a statement saying they would go on strike if suppression of protesters and arrests continue.
The officials, who only refer to the protests as “riots” and blame “foreign enemies”, claim that ‘rioters’ are back in their homes, and all is quiet now after they arrested some of the “leaders of the riots” and threatened to take action against celebrities many of whom have published posts on social media supporting the protesters’ cause and condemning violence against them.
The head of the country’s police said in a statement this week that the security forces will keep defending the Islamic Republic “until the last moment,” which implies that they are envisioning their last moment of resistance against the popular protests.
However, some things are different about the current wave of protests that the regime does not seem to be able to outmaneuver with the same propaganda and crackdown tactics it has used before.
Protesters, especially Generation Z, are hopeful that they can change the regime. Their voices have never been heard like this before. The Persian hashtag in support of the protests following the death of Mahsa Amini has been retweeted over 150 million times, and still counting, a feat that is far beyond the capabilities of a single country or a solo mindset. The entire world has helped in achieving this number and now the world seems to be watching and awaiting the result.
Global support
More and more international figures including politicians, celebrities, artists, literati and intellectuals have been voicing their support for the Iranian protests. European leaders and politicians are talking about joint punitive measures against Tehran; US Democrats and Republicans have found common ground in their support for Iranian people; Beliebers (Justin Bieber fans) and rock fans joined the chorus; Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek and American thinker Noam Chomsky are of the same opinion that the women in Iran have inspired the world; and different hacktivist groups are also backing the revolution in cybersphere.
Even different Iranian opposition groups -- from supporters of the exiled opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) to the admirers of Iran’s exiled royal family, from Kurdish groups to secular democrats – are supporting the Iranian peoples’ cause this time.
Several US officials, including the White House Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, have admitted that the last time Iranians rose up against the regime following the rigged election in 2009 – the so-called Green Movement – Washington was not prepared for support but now they want to be ready for change and have their contingencies in place.
Since 2009, almost everything has become worse for Iranians, such as inflation, brain-drain and personal freedoms. Iranians do not see any hope in the future of the Islamic regime, and are hopeful for a better future in a country not at war with the free world.
Activists believe the daytime protest on Saturday, at the beginning of the week in Iran, will show the power of their movement. So far, most protests have started in the evening hours lasting till midnight.
Images and reports also say that some women have already shed their hijab and appear in the streets without a headscarf, not just in Tehran but even in other locations.
Another development is that calls for commercial strikes seem to have produced results, as shops closed in some areas on Thursday. Activists are urging workers and businesses to go on strike to put more pressure on the government.
Authorities have arrested around 20 journalists and several celebrities who have voiced support for the protests.
State television is organizing relatively open debates focused on the issue of hijab, trying to portray the protests as a single-issue movement, while protesters everywhere are calling for a regime change, chanting against dictatorship and the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Some observers have commented that the regime is concerned about the situation as protests pop up in many cities and towns and security forces show signs of fatigue after almost two weeks of daily protests.
International pressure is also increasing, especially from European leaders and government. Germany is reported to be seeking European Union human rights sanctions on individuals involved in suppressing dissent. A report in the Washington Free Beacon on Wednesday also said that the Biden Administration regards the nuclear talks with Iran as having failed.
We will update information on protests Thursday night in Iran, starting at 21:00 local time.
Iran International cannot verify the full authenticity or details of videos posted on Twitter, but we use our best judgement to share what we believe is not disinformation.
Our live coverage of Thursday protests ended at 01:15 local time on Friday.
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A new video from Sanandaj in western Iran. Protesters are in the streets as gun shots ring out.
A woman in Yasooj, Ilam Province in southwest, shved her head during protests on Thursday. Security forces used firearms and arrested her. She was taken to an unknown location.
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Young protesters in the streets of Qom, the most important Shiite religious city in Iran where the main seminaries are located. They are chanting, "Don't fear anything, We are together".
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Another video from Qom showing tear gas being fired at protesters.
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Gunshots are heard in the western city of Sanandaj. Video quality is poor but the screams point to possibly protesters getting hurt.
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Demonstrators pulled down a propganda banner in the northern city of Noshahr Thursday evening and cheered.
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"Justice, Freedom, Hijab by choise" was a slogan chanted in a demonstration on Thursday in the religious city of Mashhad. Interestingly, some women with full hijab were among the protesters.
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A video shows two homemade explosive devices thrown at the Prisons' Organization headquarters in Tehran at 22:00 on Wednesday.
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Security forces Thursday raided the home of famous former football (soccer) player Hossein Mahini to arrest him but he was not home. They confiscated all the electronic equipment of the family.
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Large protest in Kermanshah, a provincial center in western Iran. Crowds are chanting that Khamenei's son will never succeed his father, after rumors that the top leadership has been grooming Mojtaba Khamenei to become Supreme Leader after his ailing 83-year-old father dies.
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Protesters in Sanandaj, Kurdish-populated city in western Iran, chanting "Death to Khamenei".
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There is visual evidence of businesses shutting their doors in protest. Activists have been calling for strikes to put further pressure on the government. The picture below is from district of shoemakers in Tehran but there were also commercial strikes in Esfahan.
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The video below shows all businesses closed on Amir-Kabir Boulevard in Esfahan on Thursday.
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Funeral of a protester killed in Rasht that took place on Thursday. Mourners are performing a religious ceremony by beating their chests.
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One technique people use to amplify the protests is for people who drive honking horns. It is difficult for security forces to identify which car is honking in a street full of traffic.
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Protest in the northern city of Rasht Thursday evening, with possible clashes taking place neaby with security forces.