Iran regime drums up its own crowds to oppose Green Movement
| Istanbul, Turkey
On Wednesday, the Islamic Republic of Iran reacted to last Sunday鈥檚 violent demonstrations by marshaling supporters in countrywide demonstrations and launching a media offensive against the opposition Green Movement.
At least 37 people were killed Sunday on the deadliest day of rioting聽since June鈥檚 disputed presidential election, which saw hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad returned to office amid widespread elections of fraud. For the first time, demonstrators switched from nonviolent tactics聽to engage the police with stones and batons. In response, the police fired tear-gas and bullets.
Government-funded newspapers lashed out Wednesday at the thousands of demonstrators who fought running battles with security forces during Shiite Islam鈥檚 major festival, labeling them 鈥渁postates鈥� and calling for their 鈥渁rrest and execution."
鈥淗ossein鈥檚 Intifadah: So many troops came out for the love of the Leader,鈥� trumpeted the pro-Ahmadinejad Raja News agency. 鈥淭he people spontaneously roar: 'Don鈥檛 give protection to the leaders of the discord,' 鈥� was the front-page cover of Kayhan, a newspaper that acts as a mouthpiece for the Islamic Republic.
On Wednesday,聽clips of pro-government crowds demonstrating against the opposition movement in cities around Iran. 鈥淢ass mobilization is always a very useful tactic used by revolutionary ideological governments, and these guys are good at it,鈥� said Farid Mirbagheri, chairman of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus.
Police chief Ismail Ahmadi-Moghadam called a press conference to deny claims of official heavyhandedness against protesters either in Sunday鈥檚 violence or in the wave of arrests that followed. Among the allegations was a charge聽that the nephew of defeated presidential candidate and leading Green Movement figure Mir Hossein Mousavi was murdered on government orders.
鈥淣o police force in the world would tolerate rioters attacking a police commander, destroying religious shrines, and insulting religious values by burning flags of mourning,鈥� Mr. Ahmadi-Moghadam said in an emotional press conference.
The government鈥檚 counterstrike has included arresting more than 1,000 people, mostly in highly populated urban centers of dissent like Tehran, Esfahan, and Mashhad. Human rights activists in Iran are describing cramped prison conditions and a deterioration in police behavior toward detainees. Police chief Ahmadi Moghadam vowed that the police would no longer display 鈥渞estraint."
After the first wave of political arrests, following the election, credible charges were made from a number of quarters about the use of torture in detention centers.
The regime turned to allied religious scholars to shore up its legitimacy. The conservative right-wing Resalat newspaper carried on its front page the reaction of five grand ayatollahs condemning the 鈥渟acrilege perpetrated against Ashura.鈥� Several important religious authorities have remained silent since the summer elections, withholding the blessing they traditionally bestow.
鈥淲e exaggerate the role of the grand ayatollahs,鈥� said Walter Posch, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 expect them to come out in mass against the regime, because you don鈥檛 become a grand ayatollah if Khamenei doesn鈥檛 want you to. Although he鈥檚 not the greatest Shiite religious authority, he is certainly the most powerful cleric in the world in terms of political power, and has the potential to intimidate his peers.鈥�
Enticing pro-government demonstrators with popular religious chanters
The regime has declared an 鈥淚ntifadah for Hossein.鈥� Hossein, or Hussein, is the grandson of the prophet Muhammad, whose death in battle is commemorated during Ashura. One of the incentives for pro-government demonstrators to attend rallies on Wednesdaywas the booking one of Iran's most popular maddahs聽-- a religious chanter -- to serenade the crowds.
Maddahs聽command rock-starlike adulation and devoted followings. Divorced from the high religious culture of clerical university towns such as Qom and Najaf, they chant a mixture of popular Islamic fables and contemporary political commentary in religious gathering halls crammed with hundreds of emotional men, often in tears as they rhythmically strike themselves with chains or their own hands.
鈥淚f you want to understand who the Basiji聽[militiamen] really are, then you have to listen to their maddahs,鈥� said an Iranian analyst who requested anonymity because he lives in Tehran. 鈥淭hey all have undying acceptance of the velayat-e faqih聽[Supreme Leader] and an understandable antipathy toward Americanized uptown kids about whose immoral parties with whiskey and cocaine they鈥檙e told so much in Basij听尘别别迟颈苍驳蝉.鈥�
鈥淪o it鈥檚 much more complicated than the standard narrative that Iran is composed of social democrats and a series of villagers. But even so, the religious classes are turning against the deal the government offers them," the analyst adds.
Though the Iranian government does not pay supporters to demonstrate, it appeals to their religious sentiments, indirectly subsidizes them, and offers free food and entertainment at public events. A majority of participants in pro-government events belong to the Basiji聽neighborhood and workplace associations or hold government jobs.
鈥淐ivil servants and government employees are sent memos that they鈥檙e obligated to take part in these demos,鈥� said an Iranian academic who preferred anonymity because he has family in Iran. 鈥淓very organization has a security apparatus that overlooks and monitors their employees鈥� behavior, and I鈥檓 sure they use every trick in the book to ensure that everyone complies to directives coming from above.鈥�
The government is also taking steps to restrict the flow of information to the outside world. An interview arranged by this journalist with an Iranian civil servant with pro-regime views was canceled after he explained that security agents at his office told him they knew that his cellphone was receiving phone calls from abroad and that his 鈥渇ile will be referred to the police鈥� should he not immediately desist.
Sunday鈥檚 violence has heightened social tensions, with analysts warning that from now on, both sides will be far more unforgiving in their reactions.
鈥淭he next step is that people start shooting back,鈥� said Mr. Mirbagheri of the University of Nicosia in Cyprus. 鈥淭hen we鈥檒l have martial law and the Revolutionary Guard鈥檚 armored vehicles patrolling the streets. And when that martial law happens, a military government will be even less lenient toward opposition than these guys now.鈥�
