The twilight of the ayatollahs

Iran has been involved in a vigorous wave of protests for months and the Islamic dictatorship has deployed barbaric repression trying to crush it. Two people have already been executed by hanging and at least twenty people are sentenced to death for being guilty of absurd “crimes” such as “enmity against God” and “corruption on Earth”. The list includes well-known footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani, accused of armed rebellion, whose case has been ignominiously ignored by FIFA. Many athletes have been involved in the protests. Majid Reza Rahnavard, executed on 12 December, was a professional weightlifter. In Shiraz alone at least 30 athletes are detained. Legal experts have denounced the multiple irregularities of these trials, and even some clerics disapprove of these processes for “going against Islamic law.” The ayatollahs perpetrate infamous public hangings to intimidate the population. This despicable practice had disappeared during the tenure of the moderate ex-president Hasan Rohani, but it reappeared under the current ultra-conservative president Ibrahim Raisi.

Despite the repression, this move could mark the beginning of the end of tyranny in Iran. The slogan “No to the mandatory veil” evolved and now the outright objective is to overthrow the regime. Although they have known ups and downs, the protests continue in the four cardinal points of the country, involving the different Iranian ethnic groups (Kurds, Baluchis, Arabs, Azerbaijanis). All the demonstrations are carried out by thousands of young people who own a system of values ​​that is clearly different from that of the regime. They no longer want to submit to the infinite limitations and arbitrariness imposed by the theocracy. Women are being seen on the front lines of combat everywhere and at all times, and even if the brutal repression manages to prevail for a while, it will not solve the economic recession and the growing social and political tensions. The fundamentalist regime has repeatedly demonstrated its ineffectiveness in running the country.

The decline of the so-called “Islamic Republic” is increasingly evident. That is why an increasing number of his supporters are distancing themselves and leaving him, including clergy, military and judges. Nobody wants to stay on a drifting ship. The path of change will not be easy to travel, but the emergence of leaderships with a defined discourse and clearer orientations can already be glimpsed. In addition, it actively collaborates in the ruin of the regime in internal struggles for power. Aged 83 and ill, Ayatollah Khamenei grooms his eldest son Mojtaba (a low-level cleric) to be the next supreme leader. But this dynastic succession is very frowned upon by the rest of the ayatollahs and by President Raisi, who also aspires to occupy the top position. If Mojtaba’s arrival to power were consummated, any vestige of religious legitimacy would be eliminated and even more severe uprisings could take place compared to the current ones.