Today it became known that Majidreza Rahnavard was executed in the city of Mashad in northeastern Iran. The young man was publicly hanged in one of the city’s squares. The authorities used a building crane to hang Rahnavard, as a shock and warning to everyone else. HANGED: Majidreza Rahnavard was publicly hanged in the city of Mashad. Photo: 1500Tasvir According to the authorities, he was sentenced to death for killing two members of the so-called Basij militia fighting the protesters in the streets, and for injuring two others. The activist was arrested less than a month ago. During this short time, the authorities have therefore tried, sentenced him to death and executed him. SHOWN ON TV: This photo from state Iranian TV shows Rahnavard with others who took part in anti-regime demonstrations. In the picture, Rahnavard stands with a broken arm. Photo: 1500Tasvir This is the second protester who has so far been executed since the riots in Iran started almost three months ago. Last week, 23-year-old Mohsen Shekari was hanged. Executions frighten Iranians news has spoken to both inside and outside the country, who say that the death sentences and executions have shaken the people. Our sources in Iran have been anonymized for their security. – It is clear that when you see young people being sentenced to death and executed after quasi-trials, it scares people. Especially the families of the young Iranians who are out in the streets are very worried now, says the IT consultant “Farhad”. He lives and works in the capital, Tehran. FEARLESS: Young protesters in Iran have fought security forces for the very first time. Photo: AP The Norwegian-Iranian activist and writer Mina Bai believes that the regime’s intimidation tactics seem to be working. – The authorities use death sentences and executions to scare people. In the cases against the protesters, they have no lawyers. People have no legal certainty. The scare seems to be working. The number of protesters has decreased, says Bai. CRITICAL: The Norwegian-Iranian activist and writer Mina Bai believes the regime is playing a double game. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB Well over 20 others, including three children, risk suffering the same fate as Shekari and Rahnavard, according to Amnesty Norway. In the past, the regime has managed to stifle this type of popular uprising by cracking down on demonstrations and imprisoning demonstrators. This time they struggle. One of the reasons is that the protesters have no central leadership. This means that if the authorities manage to crack down on the protest in one district of the capital Tehran, they will be able to continue in other parts of the city. The demonstrators operate independently of each other. Using new protest methods In addition, the young protesters, who often come from the country’s university environments, have organized themselves in a creative way, according to Mina Bai. – They know they will be arrested if they gather and demonstrate in open spaces. They have therefore switched to other ways of protesting. Suddenly, people in the metro in Tehran can shout “death to the dictator” in unison. They protest in places where the security forces cannot crack down on them, she says. For almost three months, frustrated Iranians have filled the streets and demanded greater freedom, democracy and human rights in the country. It was all triggered by the death of a young Kurdish woman, Jina Amini, also known as Mahsa, in the custody of the morality police in September. SYMBOL: Mahsa Amini has become the symbol of the struggle against the Iranian regime. Photo: DILARA SENKAYA / Reuters Recently, the news that the Iranian morality police will be disbanded has made international headlines. But are the hated police really off the streets? – People are cursed One of those news has spoken to in Iran confirms that there has been a change in recent months. – The moral police have been away from the street scene after Mahsa Amini died, says the IT consultant “Farhad”. The authorities have neither confirmed nor denied that the morality police have been abolished. Opponents of the regime believe that there may be tactical reasons why the disputed police unit is out of sight in many places. – I have not seen them on the metro or bus stations, which are typical patrol locations for the morality police. I think the regime realizes that the people are pissed off and they don’t want to provoke Iranians in the streets with the morality police anymore. – Strong signal The impression is confirmed by Norwegian-Iranian Mina Bai, who maintains close contact with her sources in Iran. – The moral police keep a low profile. They are off the streets, so to speak. They are almost only found in religious cities like Qom, says Bai. GONE: A female officer in the morality police in Iran. Now there are fewer and fewer moral police officers on the streets. Photo: BEHROUZ MEHRI / AFP She says that for the first time women are flouting the regime’s strict dress code. – The street scene has changed completely. It has therefore become more common to see women dropping the hijab. They go without the headscarf even though they risk being attacked by people who demand that they cover themselves, says Bai. – The protests in Iran are about much more than the headscarf, but the fact that women let their hair out is a powerful signal to the regime that enough is enough. New sanctions against women Although it has become more common to see Iranian women without their hair covered in the streets, there are still clear restrictions on them. At all public buildings, women must cover themselves, otherwise they risk being discriminated against, according to Bai. – They talk about relief, but in practice they have the same strict clothing policy, she says. For over 40 years, Iran has had its own laws regulating how a woman should dress in public. These laws have been sacred to the regime. Now they promise to make an announcement about the controversial dress codes on December 16. WOMEN’S STRUGGLE: The demonstrations are led by women in many places in Iran. Photo: AFP But the regime’s critics doubt that any easing of the dress code will be enough to calm the anger in the streets. – People have no confidence in the authorities. Hijab is no longer the biggest problem of Iranians. There is brain drain, financial problems, lack of future prospects. Even if the morality police is removed and the rules are changed, it will not calm the masses, because their major concerns are still not resolved, says “Farhad”. Mina Bai believes the regime is playing a double game. – I think it is temporary because the hijab law is far too important for the regime. If the regime changes the law, it is too little too late. – The fear is gone Iran has experienced large waves of protest in the past. In 2009, tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to demonstrate against the newly elected president of the country, conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Many believed that the election bore the mark of extensive cheating. Then Iranians poured into the streets again at the turn of the year 2017-2018 to protest against sky-high food prices. In 2019, they demonstrated against the increase in fuel prices. But the protests this time are clearly different from previous ones. – People are shouting “death to the dictator” for the very first time. They want the entire regime gone. We haven’t seen that in over 40 years, says Norwegian-Iranian Bai. FEARLESS: Young protesters in Iran have fought security forces for the very first time. Photo: AP – Iran’s spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has become the number one object of hatred for the protesters who now demand that the entire regime must go. The authorities and their supporters accuse external forces of being behind the demonstrations. They believe that the intelligence services of countries such as the United States, Great Britain and Israel are feeding on the discontent among young Iranians in order to destabilize Iran. Ayatollah Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran. The picture is from 2011. Photo: – / Afp – The rioters create problems for the people. They break the law, they kill police officers, but the rebels in the streets and those who motivate them behind the scenes will never be able to harm the Islamic Republic, the country’s spiritual leader Khamenei recently wrote on Twitter. The country’s feared Revolutionary Guard goes even further and threatens the protesters: – The rebels, bandits and terrorists who work for Iran’s enemies will not be shown any mercy, the guard wrote in a statement recently. Demonstrators fight back For almost three months, the regime has tried to crack down on the rebellion by sending security forces against the demonstrators. But the violent tactics have backfired on the country’s leadership, says “Mehdi”, who is a public employee. – The violence has worked against its purpose. It has caused young Iranians to mobilize across the country. Demonstrations are now taking place in 150 cities in all of the country’s 31 provinces. “Mehdi” says that the will to fight of the demonstrators has taken the authorities to bed. – In the past, people have fled the streets in the face of brutal security forces. Now they attack the police and burn their cars, he says. – I don’t see any fear in the protesters this time. They have done things we never expected them to do. The protesters stand on the barricades to get their rights.
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Majidreza hanged today. Executions create fear in Iran – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
