Iran’s religious dictatorship’s fear of ‘Generation 2000’

According to the Oslo-based non-government organization Iran Human Rights, which opposes the death penalty in Iran, during the two weeks from April 16 to May 1, the Iranian regime executed one person every five hours.

These killings represent stepped-up activity greater than what is normal for the Iranian religious dictatorship.

How can one explain the relentless pace of this slaughter?

Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, sheds light on this urgency and his profound concerns in his latest speech dated May 1, 2024.

Announcing something akin to an intelligence department, specifically tailored for schools under the title of “educational organization,” Khamenei addressed teachers, stating that students must “recognize demarcation lines between friends and foes of their country, understand fundamental issues needed for their country, and counter enemy propaganda. If our youth are inoculated in this regard, enemy propaganda will be neutralized.”

Khamenei’s fears are warranted, as it is this very generation that has become known as Generation 2000 which led the uprising against the dictatorship in 2022, demonstrating their bravery in facing the Revolutionary Guards empty-handed. This rebellious generation knows what it wants and what it does not. They aspire to establish a democratic and secular republic based on gender equality among other things, which contradicts this regime.

In the 2019 uprising, at least 1,500 individuals from this same generation were killed due to direct gunfire from the Guards. In the 2022 uprising, at least 750 individuals were killed and endured unspeakable and systematic torture yet remained unyielding.

This generation has extracted truths from the virtual space and exposed many of the regime’s dark secrets, such as the 1988 massacre of political prisoners, the massacre of a generation in Syria orchestrated by Qassem Soleimani, commander of IRGC’s extraterritorial Quds force who was killed in a U.S. drone strike on Jan. 3, 2020 in Iraq, the downing of Ukrainian flight PS752 by the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran in January 2020, and many other atrocities.

Primarily fearing another uprising led by this generation, Khamenei resorted to a well-known tactic by extensively supporting Hamas in the recent war to avoid another dangerous uprising, diverting public attention from Iran’s internal turmoil.

This time, however, the rebellious generation has been organized in thousands of resistance units dispersed throughout Iran, challenging the dictatorship.

During the campaign against the regime’s elections, these resistance units managed to execute 1,170 anti-repression and propaganda actions nationwide in a short period, leading to the boycott of the mullah regime elections. This occurred while the Iranian regime claimed that “more than 250,000 to 300,000 security personnel were busy guarding, defending, and providing security measures” during the elections.  Additionally, they initiated action in 243 cities regarding the elections and demonstrated the significant defeat of Khamenei. Ali Khamenei is well aware of the devastating blow that nationwide resistance units can deliver.

Middle East Conflict

In the second part of his speech, Khamenei stated, “Today, the issue of Gaza is the world’s foremost issue; we must not allow this issue to be removed from the general international perspective and its priority”. The production of war and crisis is a part of Iran’s survival strategy. Consequently, it vigorously seeks to perpetuate this crisis in the region. Although the Iranian opposition deeply believe that this conflagration will eventually engulf the regime. Hence, the regime vehemently opposes both cease-fire and peace in the region. Ali Khamenei has explicitly threatened that if Arab countries in the region normalize relations with Israel, they will face internal turmoil. He states: “Some think they can force regional countries to normalize their relations with the Zionist regime; the nations of those countries will jeopardize the lives of those governments.” Ali Khamenei, certainly through his proxy forces, attempts to impose obstacles to ceasefire and ending the war in a bid to extract more concessions from the West and to divert attention from its domestic issues.

Nuclear Negotiations

Iran’s theocracy has always utilized its nuclear project as a sword of Damocles over the heads of regional and European countries. From this regime’s view, now is the best time to use this leverage to prevent the consequences of triggering war in the region, considering that the Biden administration is inclined to accommodate them, especially with the proximity of U.S. presidential elections, as the war has reached US universities and might influence the ballot boxes. Negotiations between the United States and Iran have been ongoing for two rounds. Indeed, the Iranian regime will show some flexibility in certain areas, including the Houthis’ attacks on commercial ships and nuclear issues, etc. The regime has always employed such tactics to avoid catastrophe, as throughout its lifespan, it has not missed a moment to engage in terrorism, warmongering, and domestic oppression. But the West should consider that dialogue and concessions with this regime is a carte blanche for more terrorism, extortion, and regional and global peace violations.

It’s always Iran’s young people the mullahs fear most. That is what is driving this activity.

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