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The coup was not an isolated incident; it was one of a series of events that started in 2017. The protests started on different issues (oil price rise, water shortage, Amini's death, etc.) but quickly turned into mass movements due to the overruling of the state apparatus and extreme economic distress.
In an ongoing movement, women across the country are taking off their headscarves in public. They know the punishment for this crime. But they are more aware of their miserable lives under the continuous misrule, economic disaster, and extreme violence of the IRGC. Hence, whenever and wherever a movement starts, the common slogan is, "Death to the Dictator."
All these problems have a common source: the structure of government. The country's Guardian Council consists of 12 members, 6 of whom are directly nominated by Khamenei, and the other 6 are nominated by the Chief Justice. Meanwhile, the Chief Justice is nominated by Khamenei himself. As a result, all 12 members of the council are Khamenei's nominees.
Meanwhile, Khamenei's installed President Raisi has appointed most of the cabinet from among IRGC commanders and distributed positions among the most trusted people in parliament. The Speaker of the Parliament is Bakir Kalibaf, a former IRGC Guard commander. He is known as Chomagdar due to extreme corruption.
This Kalibaf was the mayor of Tehran. During his tenure as mayor, he quickly became a millionaire by selling government land to people and giving special privileges to close relatives. Thus, all IRGC commanders are criminals and corrupt. When they are included in most of the activities of Iran's economy, they are the twelve bells of the country's economy.
However, 300+ protesters have already been killed in the ongoing protests. The government shut down internet access and ordered a strict crackdown. Earlier, during the 2019 coup, the IRGC killed 1500+ people by indiscriminate firing on protesters across the country with internet blackouts.
Later, the extreme spread of Corona in Iran turned out to be a curse for the government. Rebellion subsides. But the government learns a stark lesson – its very existence depends on the IRGC (success in countering the insurgency). As a result, the government has steadfastly maintained that view in the current coup.
But this time, the rebellion may be more difficult to suppress. This time, the presence of women made the rebellion reckless and impregnable. Added to this is the "Resistance Unit" of the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). This group is waging an armed rebellion, and its members will not back down, even in the face of death.
Remember, Khamenei came to power in 1979 by leading the revolt of the People's Mujahideen party and overthrew the Pahlavi government and later executed 30 thousand of them by hanging in 1988 in a conflict with them. The current president, Ibrahim Raisi, was one of those who ordered the execution.
However, like in 2019, this coup will eventually be suppressed. But public outrage will not subside. Iranian society is now like a gunpowder mound, waiting to explode and destroy the entire regime. If this spark does not explode during Khamenei's lifetime, it will definitely explode with Ali Khamenei's death.
The country's dire human rights situation [tinyurl.com/yd858xy2]; High suicide rate [tinyurl.com/3hnk7zfb]; Mass death penalty [tinyurl.com/29asxm67]; Hyperinflation [tinyurl.com/56cy99y6]; Voluntary organ sales high in poverty [tinyurl.com/mrxj84mr] Made people increasingly impatient.