Born in Evin Prison, Iranian Author on Protests Against “Authoritarian, Theocratic Regime”
Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖Over 4,900 people have been killed in Iranian protests since January 8th, a number potentially undercounted and comparable to the 1988 mass executions.
- ❖The current protests are distinguished by their origin in small, disenfranchised working-class towns, targeting economic mismanagement and the Revolutionary Guard's pervasive control over the economy.
- ❖The Revolutionary Guard has taken over virtually every economic sector, from commerce and pharmaceuticals to entertainment and restaurants, operating as a "mafia system."
- ❖The regime's repression extends beyond economics to intimate aspects of daily life, including dress, food, dance, and political assembly.
- ❖Foreign intervention and threats of war solidify the regime's hardline elements, enabling more violence and weakening the nascent civil society.
- ❖The struggle for a free Iran is interconnected with the liberation of other nations in the region, including Palestine, Afghanistan, Syria, and Egypt.
Insights
1The Working-Class Roots and Brutality of Iran's Latest Protests
Sahar Delejani highlights that the current wave of protests, unlike previous ones, began in small, disenfranchised working-class towns, not just major cities. These uprisings are fueled by severe economic collapse, rampant corruption, and the Revolutionary Guard's economic dominance. The regime's response has been exceptionally brutal, with over 4,900 reported deaths, a scale of violence comparable to the 1988 mass executions.
This was one of the first times that they actually started in very small towns... This is a working-class uprising. These are people who are coming from disenfranchised towns... one of the largest mass killings of protesters that we have ever witnessed and the only thing that's comparable to it is the mass executions of 1988.
2Revolutionary Guard's Economic Hegemony
The Revolutionary Guard has systematically taken over nearly every aspect of the Iranian economy, from commerce and pharmaceuticals to entertainment and restaurants. Delejani describes this as a "mafia system" that has developed over decades, transforming the Guard from a theoretical protector of the revolution into a dominant economic force, exacerbating corruption and mismanagement.
The Revolutionary Guard has taken over the economy from every point of view... they have basically taken over every possible in commerce in um you know um pharmaceutical medicine like there's just like every even like um entertainment and um restaurants... it's like a mafia system.
3The Peril of Foreign Intervention for Iranian Civil Society
Delejani argues that external threats, wars, and foreign interventions, such as those from the US or Israel, paradoxically strengthen the Iranian regime's hardline core. These actions provide the regime with a pretext to unleash more violence internally and disrupt the "painful slow labor of building power under surveillance and persecution" by civil society, ultimately weakening internal opposition rather than the regime itself.
All of these wars and threats of wars and foreign intervention what it does is that it really um solidifies the core the hardcore of the regime... It makes them unleash um violence even more... it wasn't necessarily weakening the regime. It was weakening a civil society.
Lessons
- Recognize that the Iranian protests are a deep-seated, working-class movement driven by economic collapse and systemic repression, not solely political grievances.
- Understand that the Revolutionary Guard's economic control is a fundamental pillar of the Iranian regime's power and a key driver of public discontent.
- Critically assess the impact of foreign intervention on authoritarian regimes, considering how external threats can inadvertently solidify internal power structures and weaken civil society efforts.
Notable Moments
Sahar Delejani's personal connection to the regime's brutality, having been born in Evin Prison and losing an uncle to the 1988 mass executions.
This personal history lends significant weight and credibility to her analysis of the regime's long-standing violence and the current protests.
The comparison of current protest deaths (4,900+) to the 1988 mass executions, highlighting the regime's consistent use of extreme force.
It underscores the historical pattern of state violence and the regime's willingness to commit mass killings to maintain power, making the current situation particularly dire.
Quotes
"The Revolutionary Guard has taken over the economy from every point of view... it's like a mafia system."
"The Iranian regime has policed even the most intimate aspects of people's lives from the the way they you know get dressed, what they eat, if they dance, if they sing."
"A free Iran must mean a free Palestine and must mean free Afghanistan must mean free Syria and Egypt."
"All of these wars and threats of wars and foreign intervention what it does is that it really um solidifies the core the hardcore of the regime... It was weakening a civil society."
Q&A
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