In recent decades, “Chaharshanbeh Soori” has become a scene of protests and outrage against the regime in cities across Iran…

The Iranian people hold various festivals throughout the year, many based on ancient Persian traditions. Chaharshanbeh Soori is one such celebration that is nearly 4000 years old and is one of the most popular festivities among Iranians, with deep historical and traditional roots.

By celebrating this festival Iranians demonstrate non-acceptance of inaction and silence and pave the way for uprising and change by revolting against the ruling regime despite facing the coronavirus pandemic on top of the ever-present repression and violation of their human rights.

Jumping over small bushes of fire, symbolizing purification and burning away of harmful energies, at dusk on the eve of the last Wednesday of the Persian calendar year shows the people’s determination to achieve victory and get rid of the mullahs’ control.

This year, Iranians will celebrate “Chaharshanbeh Soori” from the evening of March 16, 2021. The celebration is already worrying the police and judicial authorities.

As the national holiday of “Chaharshanbeh Soori” approaches ever nearer, the police and judicial authorities of the dictatorial regime issue more threats to prevent this celebration from turning into a revolt against the ruling regime.

In this fire festival, Iranians traditionally jump over small burning bushes and pieces of wood in public places such as streets, alleys, and squares. They also gather around the fires, clasping hands in a circle, and sing.

The usual goal is to hope for a brighter future and happiness during the coming year, but there is an additional fervor for this year’s celebration. This year, people are using the occasion of “Chaharshanbeh Soori” to bring resolution to their 42 year-old problem and to boost their efforts in battling against the mullahs ruling in Iran since 1979, which constitutes the darkest period of contemporary Iran.

Iranian officials are now very scared of this festival and publish circulars in the media aiming to intimidate the public and to prevent Iranians from celebrating the “Chaharshanbeh Soori”.

Military commanders have expressed concern that the situation will worsen during the celebration, and have already put all special units, city police, and police stations on high alert.

Top provincial officials have already warned that stores should not sell firework materials, or firecrackers. They have threatened that intrusive inspections will be carried out as soon as the fireworks start, and severe measures will be taken against the slightest violation.

Sardar Hossein Rahimi, Greater Tehran Police Chief, pointed out: “If, God forbid, people engage in risky behaviors on the night of the last Wednesday of the year, they will face a serious and severe treatment from the police and the judiciary. He said that we are fully prepared to deal with the last Wednesday of the year and the necessary arrangements have been made for this night”.

Authorities under the pretext of the coronavirus pandemic are trying to prevent any gathering and are warning: “Due to approaching the last Wednesday of the year, if you do not follow the health instructions, people are more likely to be infected with the coronavirus”.

Also, the cyber police, a suppressive force unique to Iran, announced, “Websites that post instructions on how to make firecrackers and fireworks on the Internet will be prosecuted”.

Nevertheless, the youth intend to celebrate this national event by intensifying their activities despite the security measures, by burning pictures and posters of the Iranian leader Ali Khamenei and Qassem Soleimani.

In recent decades, “Chaharshanbeh Soori” has become a scene of protests and outrage against the regime in cities across Iran. Last year, the sound of firecrackers exploding by angry Iranian youth was constantly heard in many cities, but this year’s festival is different from last year, especially after the November and December 2019 uprisings.

As a result, Iranians, by celebrating “Chaharshanbeh Soori” on Tuesday, March 16th 2021, will send a message to the Supreme Leader that “fire is a symbol of our long struggle against dictatorship”.

Iranians are already posting messages on social media that we are all together and Coronavirus and repression will not slow us down.

Hassan Mahmoudi is a Europe-based social analyst, researcher, independent observer, and commentator of Middle Eastern and Iranian Politics. He tweets under @hassan_mahmou1.     

During the 20th century, Iran was cradle to two revolutions, two coup d’etats, and several economic crises.  The anti-monarchy revolution that took place in the second half of the century was one of the most important phenomena in Iran’s history. But after four decades, it is clear to see that the people of Iran have never before lived under such catastrophic conditions, never been ruled with more incompetence, or by more despotic leaders than the ‘absolute rule’ of the Mullahs. The international community has never had such a criminal regime as a member.

Iran’s so-called president, Hassan Rouhani, lives and rules on lies. In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 26, 2020, he said: “If the people want to swear at someone for the country’s problems and shortages, it is the White House in Washington D.C., no one else. Don’t name anybody else for your own group’s and faction’s benefit.” The US representative to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, responded to Rouhani exactly as he deserved: “The Iranian president’s speech today was a tour de force of dishonesty”.

A Glimpse

Namaki, the Iranian regime’s Health Minister, said: “We are facing an organized corruption in the field of medication and medical equipment even in some companies affiliated with the Health Ministry.” He added, “1.3 billion dollars of medical equipment is gone and it is not clear who has stolen it,”.

Professor Steve Hanke, economist at John Hopkins University in the USA, tweeted on September 27, 2020:

Etemand state-run daily wrote on September 27, 2020: “The poverty line for a family of four as estimated by Hamidreza Imam Qoli-Tabar, inspector for High Society of Laborers Representatives is 10 million tomans (about $357). In 2011 the poverty line was announced as around half a million tomans but in mid-spring of 2020 this figure was announced as nine million tomans by the Majlis’s (parliament) research center. The center also announced that “the income of 30 to 40 percent of Iranians is lower than this.” An 18-fold increase in 9 years is the figure before the rial constantly plunged in its value and the price of goods constantly increased.

Currently, a dollar being equal to 30,000 tomans has made the situation harder for ordinary people. Bearing in mind that the poverty line is now 10 million tomans and the minimum wage is 2.8 million tomans (about 100 dollars), one can see that the labor class, 60% of Iran’s society, is in a state of  abject poverty.”

The daily also wrote: “We must be careful that the poor don’t lose their patience because then there will be social and security consequences.”

Who’s to blame?

The wealth of bodies and institutions under the control of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, is estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars. Today the majority of banks, industries, mines, communication enterprises, and financial institutions are under the exclusive ownership of Khamenei and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). Each year tens of billions of dollars are drained out of the country through the mullahs’ and IRGC’s corruption and looting, being spent on the regime’s terrorism and its proxies in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon. This has gone so far that the United States has issued an ultimatum that it will close its embassy in Baghdad unless the regime’s proxies are brought to account for their consecutive attacks on the coalition’s embassies and convoys. According to Al-Khalij news, Iraq’s Prime

Minister, Barham Saleh has warned the commanders of the Iranian regime’s para-militia in Iraq that, if the terrorist attacks in Iraq continue, the US will act as follows:

1. Physical elimination of the Shiite leaders and proxies’ commanders as it did with Qasem Soleimani and Abu-Mehdi Mohandis.
2. Intense and precise air attacks against the bases of armed forces until the US is assured that these groups are demolished and their commanders either killed or on the run.
3. Blocking of all assets and property registered under the name of politicians who are either involved in the attacks or are cooperating with these proxies. International courts will issue orders to prosecute them.

Where does all this lead?

Outside Iran’s borders, chaos, and utter bewilderment are seen among the commanders of the regime’s proxies. Inside the country, as a commander of the IRGC put it: “The enemy has infiltrated the heart and the mind of the youths.”

The wrath of destitute Iranians as well as public discontent has turned Iran into a powder keg. People are primed to surge into the streets with the slightest spark as they are more than fed up; eventually shaping a great revolt.

Those familiar with Iran’s situation says that, while revolt and uprising have been the way of protest in Iran before, this time will be very different. This time the people will fight back and the regime will not so easily be able to suppress the coming revolt and uprising as it has the previous ones.

Hassan Mahmoudi is a Europe-based social analyst, researcher, independent observer, and commentator of Middle Eastern and Iranian Politics. He tweets under @hassan_mahmou1. 

If an individual doesn’t have the money to take home bread to his wife and family then he’ll stop praying and even lose his beliefs

Dubai (Reuters) – Confrontation with America, economic hardship and an airline tragedy have battered Iranians’ confidence in their leaders, posing a potential problem for the authorities in a parliamentary election this week.

As the Feb. 21 vote nears, Iranians are in a gloomy mood, exhausted by a succession of crises that have helped to shred the hopes for a better life they harboured only four years ago.

That does not bode well for leaders seeking a big turnout at the ballot box: In their view, crowded polling stations would signal to arch-foe Washington that Iran is unbowed by sanctions and the killing of a prominent general in a U.S. strike.

Allies of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have ensured hardliners dominate the field — meaning that, whatever the turnout, security hawks seeking a more confrontational approach with Washington may tighten their control of the legislature.

But a meagre showing would still rattle Iran’s leaders and embolden critics both in the country and outside who argue the Islamic Republic needs to change domestic and foreign policy.

“I’m a person who has voted before. My hope was that things would get a little better when I voted in the past. Now, all the red lines have been crossed,” said a doctor in Tehran whose clinic is struggling to source specialised medicine.

“This time, I have no hope and I will definitely not vote,” she said by phone, asking not to be identified discussing political matters.

Four years ago, things looked very different. Rouhani and his allies won big gains in parliamentary elections, and many hoped a nuclear deal agreed with world powers in 2015 would pull Iran out of political isolation and boost the economy.

“We Haven’t Seen Any Progress”

Those aspirations crumbled after President Donald Trump quit the pact in 2018 and reimposed sanctions in an effort to put stricter limits on Iran’s nuclear work, curb its ballistic missile program and end its involvement in regional proxy wars.

“The main root of everything is the economy,” Ali, a mobile phone shop employee in the central city of Isfahan, said by telephone, asking not to reveal his surname.

“If an individual doesn’t have the money to take home bread to his wife and family then he’ll stop praying and even lose his beliefs,” said Ali, who works more hours since his boss kept the store open in traditional afternoon resting periods in the hope customers could wander in. Ali does not plan to vote next week.

“I voted for several years and it didn’t make any difference. We haven’t seen any progress to say we want this or that candidate to come forward,” he said.

The authorities have been under pressure since last year when protests over a fuel price hike were met with the bloodiest crackdown since the 1979 Islamic revolution, killing hundreds.

A U.S. drone strike that felled top commander Qassem Soleimani in January in Iraq rallied Iranians around a common cause. But the show of support was quickly replaced by angry protests over efforts to cover up the accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner that killed all 176 aboard.

The elite Revolutionary Guards apologised for the calamity, but that did not appease thousands protesting in several cities.

“This year, things are going from bad to worse,” said a Tehran resident and homemaker, who does not plan to vote and also asked not to be named.

“After the plane crash, the government has lost a lot of their supporters,” said the resident, who added that the establishment needed the election to show the world “how many supporters they have” after the string of crises.

Even before the latest troubles, sanctions that cut Iran’s crude oil exports by more than 80 percent were placing a painful squeeze on living standards.

The rial has slumped, trading on the free market at about 140,000 against the dollar against its official rate of 42,000, according to foreign exchange website Bonbast.com

Voting For “Hard Revenge”

The currency plunge has disrupted Iran’s foreign trade and boosted inflation, which the IMF expects at 31% this year.

In the eastern city of Birjand, Hamed said he has no time for elections as he frets about his business filming and photographing weddings, with only one in 10 customers asking for albums after the cost of photo paper rose six-fold since 2018.

“We’re focused on prices and having to call customers and asking them to pay,” Hamed told Reuters by phone, also declining to give his surname due to sensitivities. “We have nothing to do with politicians and politics.”

Analysts expect a lower turnout than the 62% in the 2016 parliamentary elections, with smaller, more conservative cities where families pressure kin to vote seeing a larger showing.

But Khamenei, Iran’s highest authority, has tried to drum up nationalistic sentiment to secure a strong turnout.

“It’s possible that someone doesn’t like me but if they like Iran they must come to the ballot box,” he said in a speech.

Supporters echoed the call on social media.

“A better election can also be another #hard_revenge,” a Twitter user named Teiaaraa posted two weeks ago, referring to a phrase used by state media for the Iranian strikes on Iraq bases that left over 100 U.S. soldiers with traumatic brain injuries.