Politicians Look For Solutions in Iran To Save The Regime
As most Iranian officials, hardliner clerics and military commanders are adamant to suppress the ongoing protests, a few figures suggest alternative approaches.
As most Iranian officials, hardliner clerics and military commanders are adamant to suppress the ongoing protests, a few figures suggest alternative approaches.
The Speaker of Iranian parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf who had earlier introduced the idea of "a new form of governance," told reporters in Tehran January 1 that he is trying to reach a consensus among Iran's top officials to make changes in the system of governance in the Islamic Republic.
Ghalibaf added that economic issues are the top priorities in these meeting, while the current anti-regime protests are more about social and political liberties and establishing a democratic, secular political system than any economic demand.
This comes while, he has been paying visits to security forces to pay tribute to them for dealing with the protests. On the other hand, the latest photos of Iran's top officials showed Ghalibaf in his regular weekly meeting with President Ebrahim Raisi and Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei and Vice President Mohammad Mokhber who took part in the weekly meeting for the first time. The photo shows Mokhber, a confidant of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, addressing the three top officials.
This could pretty much be one of those meetings in which Ghalibaf says he has been looking for a consensus about how to deal with the protests.
Ghalibaf had also met with some of Iran's top clerics last week when nearly all of those who "received" him criticized Raisi's economic policies and his government's inefficiency.
Despite the attractive rhetoric about "a new form of governance," Ghalibaf explanation about the idea leaves no room for unnecessary excitement. He said that "I believe the renovation of the system of governance should take place based on the ideas of Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei."
Meanwhile, Ghalibaf praised Raisi for replacing the governor of the Central Bank and said he hopes the new governor would offer a solution for the falling Iranian currency rial, which has dipped to unprecedented lows since September.
In another development, a seasoned intelligence operative, former government spokesman Ali Rabiei has called for reforms in Iran, adding that "This is the best time to start reforms. Tomorrow might be too late."
Claiming that street protests have receded, Rabiei reiterated that this is the right time to send signals about reforms and to introduce new social policies. He said what prompted him to come up with the idea of quick reforms were the street protests, which he said are the result of economic difficulties and lost hopes in the future. He also mentioned the blow dealt against Iran by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his Middle east tour, which he said was inspired by Iran's internal crisis.
Rabiei added that the government should take lessons from these experiences and not repeat wrong domestic and foreign policies. He said wrong assumptions about international and regional developments has cost Iran many missed opportunities during the past four decades.
He also reminded top officials that resorting to reforms does not necessarily mean a retreat from previously declared policies.
An article along the same lines on the proreform Fararu website formulated the same by stating that the regime might not survive if it ignores the three crises of polarization in the society, the threat of hyper-inflation and the impact of regional and international isolation, adding that the government should find solutions for these three crises as soon as possible before it is too late.
A video footage of Revolutionary Guard Commander Brigadier General Hamid Abazari is one of these contentious leaks. In a video released recently, Abazari hinted at division among the Islamic Republic’s top military men amid continuing anti-regime protests.
Abazari, who formerly served as deputy commander of the Imam Hossein Training and Officer University, criticized senior commanders and officials who had "failed [to stand by] the values of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the regime." He claimed that he personally knows several high-ranking IRGC senior officers, including some of his own commanders, who caved in and did not support the regime.
Abazari also rebuked senior civilian officials who had not condemned the protests and alleged that some stood against Khamenei.
IRGC’s public relations department reacted to his remarks on December 31, issuing a statement stressing that this was Abazari's personal opinion and "does not correspond to existing facts."
Moreover, another senior officer in the Revolutionary Guards who formerly commanded Basij forces, Gholamhossein Gheybparvar, criticized "some elites" for staying silent about the protests and abandoning the “Islamic Revolution.”
Criticizing the unnamed individuals he lamented that "We should not have doubts in such a situation,” adding, “We do not deny having economic problems, high prices, unemployment, etc., but does the regime deserve that everybody stabs a knife into its body?"
Such remarks were also brought up in early December when hacktivist group Black Reward released tens of files containing IRGC-linked Fars News Agency's exclusive security briefings for the Guard’s Commander Hossein Salami. One document said Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had complained to former Parliament Speaker and his close relative Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel that some of the regime’s elites have remained silent about the protests.
Many insiders not only stopped expressing support, but have started to denounce the regime’s policies that have led to the current uprising.
In December, a member of Iran’s Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution acknowledged that the Islamic Republic has failed to achieve its desired religious ideological goals. Ultra-conservative Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi is regarded as a leading advocate of the ruling clergy and the ideology of a government controlled by the clergy, in contrast with traditional Shiite thinking that favors keeping seminarians independent of the government.
Some people on social media believe that such leaks are meant to pressure regime insiders to come out in defense of the Islamic Republic, which has never seemed so battered and bruised by over 100 days of popular protests challenging its existence. Even if such statements are leaked intentionally or as publicity stunts, it cannot be ignored that Ali Khamenei and his top supporters feel isolated and unable to change the situation to the former status quo.
“In 2022, we witnessed the blossoming of unprecedented solidarity among Iranians of diverse backgrounds and beliefs,” tweets posted simultaneously on the eve of the new year by the former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, footballer Ali Karimi, actor Golshifteh Farahani and activists Nazanin Bonyadi, Masih Alinejad and Hamed Esmaeilion said in Persian, in some cases accompanied by English versions.
“Through further solidarity and organizating, 2023 will be the year of victory for the Iranian nation, and the achievement of freedom and justice in Iran,” the tweets said.
Some other prominent figures such as Iran's Peace Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi and many activists have also shown support by sharing the same greeting message on their social media.
The greeting messages have received a total of around 400,000 likes, thousands of positive comments and been retweeted extensively since the posts were published although some social media users have not been as enthusiastic.
Given the regime’s policy of silencing voices of dissent, many Iranians who are fighting on the streets to topple the regime have invested their hopes for a leadership to emerge for their ‘revolution’ with an eye on influential opposition figures abroad who can represent them in the international community.
Accordingly, many Iranians have been incessantly urging opposition figures to join forces to provide leadership to Iran's hitherto ‘leaderless revolution.’
“This was a great move by the Crown Prince, Masih and others,” a young man in Tehran who since the very beginning of the protest movement has been fighting the regime security forces on the streets, and on social media, told Iran International.
“The regime has always tried to divide the opposition to conquer, but this move neutralizes their efforts and can help unite the supporters of individual figures who have shown solidarity with their New Year greeting. Unity is our key to victory [against the regime],” he added.
Many allege that posing as ‘revolutionaries’ and supporters of opposition figures, the cyber-army of the Islamic Republic is trying more than ever to divide the opposition and supporters of influential figures abroad such as the former Crown Prince and Hamed Esmaeilion by muddying the waters with fake news, negative commenting, making accusations, and aggressively attacking those perceived as rivals.
The former Crown Prince said at a press conference in late October that “supporting the movement inside the country and cooperation [between those] in Iran and abroad” was the most important requirement for success against the regime and that the opposition had to send a united message to the international community.
The warm welcome this first sign of solidarity among diaspora opposition figures has received needs to be followed up by more concrete messages of unity. “A joint [-ly prepared] tweet for the new western year may be a positive political performance but is not necessarily a [sign of] a ‘coalition’,” Elahe Boghrat, chief editor of the London-based Kayhan warned in a tweet.
New York-based sociologist Majid Mohammadi told Iran International that the short greeting message posted with coordination was a harbinger that the opposition could organize and unite in the future. People expect those who issued this coordinated message to create bodies to support their revolutionary movement legally, logistically, and intellectually to help it focus on its goals and move forward.