Friday, 26 November, will remain in the history of Iran forever as some security forces were killing people in Kurdish and Baluch cities but were dancing before cameras in Tehran.
Following a tough Friday prayer sermon by Iran’s leading Sunni cleric, people in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan poured onto streets in several cities in support of the people in Kurdish-majority cities in western Iran. Protesters in provincial capital Zahedan, Chabahar, Khash, Saravan, and Iranshahr were out in streets until late in the night, chanting slogans for freedom and the end of the clerical regime. A noteworthy slogan was “Kurds and Baluchis are brethren, all thirsty for the blood of the leader.”
In many cities they were confronted by the security forces who used gunfire and teargas, killing several people. But in the capital Tehran, security forces apparently were ordered to celebrate for the victory of Islamic Republic’s football team in its second World Cup match, creating a surreal scene that is bound to remain in the history of the country.
Defying the resentment of many Iranians over government’s killing of 400 people, including about 50 children, in the past two months, the players of the national squad sang along with the Islamic Republic anthem at the beginning of their match against Wales and won the game to keep their hopes alive for qualifying to the knockout stage of the tournament. But people on social media have been slamming them for their disregard toward the bloodshed in Iran. Protesting Iranians also chanted slogans in support of popular footballer Vorya Ghafouri, who was arrested for his outspoken support for protesters.
Late on Friday, people in several neighborhoods of the capital Tehran, the neighboring city of Karaj and the central city of Esfahan held antigovernment gatherings and chanted slogans against the regime.
One of the highlights of the day for Iranians was the hacking of Fars news website, a media outlet affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which promotes the Islamic Republic’s agenda in several languages. The website of Fars News Agency was targeted by Iranian hacktivist group Black Reward and the agency’s databases which include confidential news bulletins sent to Supreme Leader's office and IRGC as well as all their recorded calls, correspondence, and financial data were breached.
Moreover, the commander of IRGC ground forces announced Friday that it has been reinforcing its military on the border with Iraq adjacent to the Kurdistan autonomous region with armored units.
Iran has deployed military firepower against Iranian Kurdish civilian protesters in western Iran, killing at least 12 people since November 16. It has also repeatedly shelled bases of Iranian Kurdish insurgent groups in Iraq, portraying the popular protests as a separatist movement. Mohammad Esmail Kowsari, a former IRGC commander and currently a member of the Islamic Republic parliament, also confirmed that military units were being dispatched to deal with Kurdish insurgents in Iraq.
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Iranian fans, who wanted to take flags other than the official one approved by the Islamic Republic to the Al Rayyan’s Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, were stopped by security officers. Many people were barred from carrying or waving Iran’s ancient flag with the Lion and Sun emblem or a simple three-color flag with the main motto of the current wave of protests – Woman, Life, Liberty.
Rebuking the Qatari police for such a close collaboration with the Islamic Republic, Iran International presenter Reza Mohaddes said that organizers of the event have even set up patrols during to match to stop and expel those who have managed to sneak in some flags or other symbols in solidarity with the protests back home.
He quoted officials of the Islamic Republic’s Football Federation as saying that in addition to the country’s officials and state media reporters, more than 22,000 free tickets -- about 7,000 per match --have been provided for the country’s cherrypicked supporters to go to Qatar from Iran. Masquerading as “cultural agents,” these people are mainly in charge of populating the stadiums carrying the regime’s flags or symbols.
Moreover, there are videos and photos of Bangladeshi and Pakistani citizens – reportedly workers who helped built Qatar’s stadiums under inhumane working conditions – paid to pose as Iranian football fans, carrying the Islamic Republic’s flags.
Another thing that has irked Iranians in the country and abroad is how the players cheered after their 2-0 victory against Wales, while almost none of the footballers playing at the country’s premier league cheer after scoring or winning in honor of the bereaved families of the protesters killed in the past 70 days.
Last month, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi expressed concern over possible problems that may happen during the FIFA World Cup, tacitly referring to people chanting slogans against the Islamic Republic during matches or players making statements about the situations in Iran. Earlier in November, he tasked the Foreign Ministry to contact Qatari officials regarding the issue to find ways “to predict and prevent possible problems."
Mohaddes added that Qatar is also cooperating with the Islamic Republic to better censor the broadcast of the matches. The Islamic Republic state broadcaster has always been censoring scenes from the spectators who were carrying placards or flags to show their opposition to the regime. The censorship also meant to block images of normally dressed women among spectators in matches that took place outside Iran.
However, it had to find innovative measures to keep airing the live matches, such as finding an insert shot that it deemed appropriate and replaying it whenever it wanted to censor the footage. But this time Qatar solved this problem for the Islamic Republic by providing a live clean long shot of the stadium to be used instead of close-up shots of flags or an expression of solidarity with the uprising.
Unlike their first match, this time the Iranian squad disregarded people’s feelings by singing along with the Islamic Republic anthem. Loud jeers were heard from Iranian supporters inside the stadium as the anthem played, with the team singing quietly along.
Numerous Iranian athletes have shown support for the protests. The Iranian football, beach football, water polo, basketball, and sitting volleyball teams refused to sing along with the anthem, which is customary in almost all international competitions. Authorities have made serious threats against athletes and other celebrities to stop them from public displays of solidarity with protesters but to no avail.
According to Mohaddes, Iranians expected Team Melli to do something more than staying silent during the anthem, especially after the arrest of popular footballer Vorya Ghafouri for his outspoken support for protesters, but players even did not repeat the banal gesture they did in their World Cup opener.
Team Melli players even disappointed people by refusing to talk about or even answer questions about the current situation in Iran on the eve of their match against Wales, claiming that they are not people of politics.
Team Melli should rather be called “the representatives of the Islamic Republic” as they can no longer be Iran’s national squad, Mohaddes noted.
In his Friday prayers sermons, Mowlavi Abdolhamid, officially known as Mowlavi Shaikh Abdolhamdid Esmailzehi, said whenever people were willing to go to the polls and vote for the reformist camp, they disappointed them with their inaction.
“The time was wasted, and we have lost the opportunity for reforms," said the religious leader of Iran's largely Sunni Baluch population living in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
"The reformists did not manage to do anything, and the biggest complaint directed at them is why they did not enact any reforms,” he said. Indirectly referring to the Supreme Leader and possibly the Revolutionary Guards and hardliners, Abdolhamid said that if reformists were stopped from pursuing reforms, “why didn't they say who stopped them? Why did they remain silent? Those who came in the name of reformism and did not do anything should have had the courage to say who didn't allow them," he said.
Emphasizing that reformists have lost their chance, he said that “If reforms had been carried out in the Islamic Republic, today the people would not be suffering from miseries, and they would not be shouting for freedom and justice during their protests.”
Mowlavi Abdolhamid, who had previously supported Reformist President Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005) and moderate conservative Hassan Rouhani (2013-2021), encouraged Iran's Sunni population to support ultraconservative Ebrahim Raisi in the 2021 presidential election. Later he complained that Raisi failed to fulfil his promises to the Sunni community while millions had voted for him. Following the killing of more than 100 Sunnis in Zahedan during recent protests by security forces, some criticized Abdolhamid for having supported Raisi.
At the start of the reform movement in 1997, Abdolhamid played a key part as a charismatic leader who rallied the Sunnis behind Khatami. The history of the Islamic Republic reveals that any candidate who had Abdolhamid's support won the election in Sistan and Baluchistan and Kordestan provinces.
Abdolhamid's popularity is largely because of his willingness to challenge the absolute authority of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Earlier in November, the outspoken Sunni Imam said women, ethnic and religious groups, and minorities have faced discrimination after the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. He was also brave enough to blame Khamenei for the attack on protesters in his hometown, Zahedan.
He made the remarks on the backdrop of reports from recent meetings between senior officials and a number of reformist figures. Sources in Tehran say Iran's ruling hardliners are beseeching once popular reformists they purged from power to help save the regime and end the uprising. However, the reformists have been side-lined during the current wave of the protests – ignited by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, as neither the government nor the protesters consider them a serious political alternative.
During his Friday prayers sermons, Mowlavi Abdolhamid also criticized the crackdown on the Kurdish majority cities in western Iran, praising them as one of the best ethnic groups who protected the borders like the people of Sistan and Baluchestan.
Since last week, the Islamic Republic has intensified its repression of Kurdish-majority cities and towns following reports that parts of some small towns have fallen into the people’s hands. The majority of Iran's 10 million Kurds live in the western parts of the country.
"Now that the people of Kordestan are complaining about their problems and protesting, they should not be shot at, and they should not be treated with violence," he said.
He added that if he were an official, he would listen to the peoples’ demands, noting, "It is a matter of concern that many of our officials were not ready to listen to the critics. These problems were created by those who did not allow criticism."
Taking issue with spending Iran’s money in other regional countries, the cleric said, "This country does not belong to officials and rulers. It belongs to all of us and we all want this country to be prosperous. Its wealth should be spent here instead of somewhere else."
He also called on the authorities not to give "severe sentences" to protesters and urged the release of the political prisoners, referring to death sentences issued for at least 10 people.
Expressing concern about reports of torture and sexual harassment of prisoners, Abdolhamid cautioned, "There are some reports of mistreatment of prisoners, especially female prisoners, that are difficult for me to say... Torture is against the constitution and is not allowed in any religion."
Signs of the apparently incurable impasse have appeared in bitter comments by Iranian academics and political activists such as Mohsen Renani who has said in a note published on social media that "the government is trying to stop a flood by shooting at it, thinking that bullets can stop the deadly torrent. At the same time, intellectuals are standing behind the flood and trying to direct it."
Renani said that in the current revolt "the younger generation of Iranians is throwing up the remnants of an old and outdated government. They also do not want us intellectuals who kept silent for a long time in the face of discrimination, narrowmindedness and foolishness."He added that both the government and the intellectuals lag behind the new generation. The flood is raging on and what the government can do to stop it?"
As reports indicate in recent days, the government's last resort has been seeking help from reformists it neglected, suppressed and humiliated at least since 2020 if not long before that.
Referring to her meetings with Judiciary Chief Gholamhosein Mohseni Ejei and Security Chief Ali Shamkhani, Fatemeh Rakei, the deputy chairperson of the Reform Front has said: "It may be too late for reconciliation, but we still have time to stop bloodshed and violence." She said in those meetings she called on the government to stop violence against protesters and begin to listen to them instead. She also reminded officials that real tolerance and reconciliation should mean that everyone will be entitled to voice their views and demands.
Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's daughter Fatemeh has admitted she met with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's son Mojtaba but has said Mojtaba told her he has been left out of top-level decision making and has been "just nobody" since last year. In that case, it is not clear why he met Rafsanjani's daughter. Earlier, Security Chief Ali Shamkhani was quoted as having said that Rafsanjani and former leader Khomeini's family members have been called on to ask the protesters to stop their rallies.
Hundreds of Iranian social media users slammed the meetings with reform figures and the members of the two clans. Several social media users opined that the meeting with Mojtaba might be an indication that plans are underway to depose Khamenei and replace him with Mojtaba. Others said this was an indication that Khamenei must leave."
Outside Iran, Iranian political commentator Reza Taghizadeh said in a tweet: "They shamelessly took Taliban II to Kabul based on an inauspicious plot and once again made the reactionaries the rulers of Afghanistan. Bringing Islamic Republic II to power in Iran using government-backed reformists in partnership with leftists is a more dangerous plot."
Meanwhile, Iranian reformist political activist Gholam Ali Rajaei pointed out that serious change is not likely to be easy as "Clerics cannot tolerate not being in power." In another statement Rajaei said that as a first step the government needs to "shut off the annoying loudspeaker in Mashhad." Earlier Rajaei and other Iranian commentators had pointed out that Mashhad's Friday Prayer Imam Ahmad Alamolhoda and the editor of Kayhan newspaper Hossein Shariatmadari constantly pump out hate-speak, annoying key groups of politically active Iranians such as filmmakers, athletes, youths and women.
Blaming these radicals for recent attacks on clerics in public places, Rajaei said in his interview with Rouydad24: "Decision-makers should silence these individuals." His advice must have been already taken on board as Khamenei's office cautioned Alamolhoda to be mindful of what he says. However, there has been no indication of any attempt to silence Shariatmadari.