“Women, life, freedom” Even if the regime intended to dissolve the morality police, or relax the regulations on the compulsory veil, the wind of revolt in Iran would not run out of steam
A woman walks past closed shops on Satarkhan Street during a three-day national strike, in Tehran, capital of Iran, on December 5, 2022. – ATTA KENARE/AFP
- Demonstrations in Iran continue in a movement of unprecedented duration and scale after more than two months of mobilization, following the death of Mahsa Amini.
- Jonathan Piron, historian specializing in Iran for Etopia and Armin Arefi, journalist and senior reporter for Le Point specializing in the Middle East and author of Spring in Tehran< /em> explain to 20 Minutes why abolishing the morality police would not be enough to satisfy the demonstrators’ thirst for freedom.
< li>On Sunday, the media around the world announced, somewhat hastily, the abolition of the morality police in Iran. Information to be strongly nuanced.
The little phrase quickly went around the world. A little after 10 a.m. on Sunday, Agence France presse announced the abolition of the morality police in Iran. Information that goes around the world, however, it is inaccurate. And even if she had been founded and verified, the supposed disappearance of this police force dedicated to controlling the proper respect of Islamic constraints in the public space would it have been enough to calm the wind of anger that has been rumbling in the streets of Iran for nearly three months?
Not at all, according to Jonathan Piron, historian specializing in Iran for Etopia and Armin Arefi journalist senior reporter at the specialized Point; on the Middle East and author of Un Printemps à Grave; Tehran. The two specialists contacted by 20 Minutesensure that the multiple demands of the demonstrators go much deeper than the question of the veil and the morality police.
Ambiguous situation
The ambiguous adë that you probably saw in the media at the end of the weekend, or even at the beginning of the week, is in reality not what turned out in headlines around the world. There is no question of the abolition of the morality police, but of reflection on the wearing of the compulsory veil, with “answers expected within a fortnight” cites Armin Arefi to 20 Minutes. No decision has therefore been taken. socket. On the other hand, the person who pronounced the misinterpreted phrase is the Attorney General of Iran, i.e. a personality; who “has no authority to abolish the morality police,” adds Jonathan Piron. And even if this police were abolished by the regime, “wearing the veil would remain obligatory, so who would take over their powers?”, questions the historian.
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Finally, this exit could mark a will; of the regime to make a kind of diversion in the face of the violent repression of demonstrations, at the same time destination of the community international community and demonstrators. While the regime fails to to put an end to the demonstrations for more than two months, “this pseudo-overture aims to give the impression that the regime has taken into account some of the protesters’ demands, but also to deflect them’ watch out,” says Armin Arefi. Because this announcement, which is not one, arrives at named point: from Monday until Wednesday, a national strike is organized throughout the country and followed by many traders. The end of the morality police could then serve to steal the show, or at least throw a veil over the unprecedented mobilization in the country. In any case, the abolition of the morality police was not achieved. neither confirmed nor denied.
Overturning the regime
And even if it was officially announced by the competent authorities, the demonstrators never claimed neither the abolition of the morality police nor the end of the compulsory wearing of the veil. “Their claims go much deeper,”says Jonathan Piron. “This anger is multifactorial: it has been triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, but also reflects a desire to equality men-women, of respect for the different communities, a grumbling of students, strikes by lawyers and certain workers in the hydrocarbons sector, he develops. It”s syncretism.” Images of stores that have gone down their sections on Monday and Tuesday, even in remote villages of the country, clearly show the extent of the mobilization. Especially since in an economy that is already weakened by international sanctions, lack of redistribution and precariousness; which is increasingly affecting the middle classes, “it’s daring to be on strike at this time”, underlines the historian.
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Moreover, “there is no slogan that talks about the veil or the morality police, the demonstrators talk about the regime,” recalls Armin Arefi. And today, unlike all the protest movements that have shaken country for several years (we remember in particular the “green movement” in 2009), “young people no longer believe that the regime can be reformed; from the inside,” explains Jonathan Piron. “The time for reform is over, it’s too late,” said Armin Arefi. The anger that is expressed is directed against the power in place, against the regime of the Islamic Republic. According to the Middle East expert, “there is only the end of the regime” which could satisfy the mobilized people. However, “neither actor has the power to extinguish or overthrow the other, because the protesters are not numerous enough and the regime is unable to bring it about. Crush the mobilization that has left to settle in time,” his turn Jonathan Piron.
A counter-productive repression
So to maintain itself, the regime uses its favorite weapon: repression. Tuesday, five new prison sentences; dead have been pronounced against participants in demonstrations, making a total of eleven people sentenced to death. capital punishment. “Power brutalizes to demobilize, uses fear, brandishes the Syrian scenario, but now most of the demonstrators are beyond. of the barrier of fear and whether the sentences to death death are executed, resentment will grow,” predicts Jonathan Piron.
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This could push even more people into the streets, convince the undecided to fight alongside the demonstrators. “From the moment when” the taboo of death is exceeded, this threat will accentuate the mobilization,” he insists. “The fierce crackdown has only further pushed protesters to fight back. To be intransigent, there is a real revolutionary logic today,” adds Armin Arefi. And indeed, among the slogans chanted in the Iranian streets, this one conveys well this crest line on which the regime plays: “If you execute the demonstrators, it will be the uprising.”