Iranian Football Star Calls On Army To Side With People In Protests
A popular Iranian football (soccer) star, Ali Karimi, has called on Iran’s traditional Army (Artesh) to side with the people to prevent “bloodshed” during current protests.
A popular Iranian football (soccer) star, Ali Karimi, has called on Iran’s traditional Army (Artesh) to side with the people to prevent “bloodshed” during current protests.
The government usually does not use the traditional Army against protesters as it relies on forces controlled by the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and intelligence organizations to crush dissent.
Many Iranians have called on the army in the past to side with the people not to allow these forces to attack civilians.
One human rights group said Wednesday that there was a brief exchange of fire between the army and the IRGC in the Kurdish town of Saqqez.
Karimi, nicknamed ‘Asian Maradona’ retired in 2013. He is well-known for his many charitable activities including helping build schools in poverty-stricken areas and helping earthquake victims.
During a World Cup final with South Korea in 2010, several Iranian players, including Karimi, wore green wristbands as a show of support for Iranian opposition leader Hossein Mousavi, who accused the Iranian government of vote rigging in the 2009 presidential election.
He has also openly supported families of those who were victims of government violence during protests anti-government protests or otherwise.
The IRGC-linked Fars news agency has sharply criticized him and called him “the new leader of the opposition” for his support for the current protests.
Fierce protests began last week when a 22-year-old woman received fatal head injuries during her detention by the notorious Islamic hijab police. More than 80 cities and many towns have been gripped by unrest since then.
The new missile, dubbed Rezvan, was put on display during a nationwide military parade to mark what the Islamic Republic calls the Sacred Defense Week, which marks the start of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war. Forces from the Iranian Army, the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Police, Border Guards, and paramilitary Basij are participating in the parades.
According to Iranian media, Rezvan is a liquid-fueled single-stage missile with a detachable warhead that has a range of up to 1,400 kilometers, and can be launched from a variety of fixed and mobile platforms.
During the parade, Kheybar-Shekan missile system -- developed by the Aerospace Division of the Revolutionary Guard -- was also put on display that has a range of 1,450 kilometers and Iran boasts about its high agility and pinpoint accuracy. It uses solid propellants and is said to be capable of penetrating into missile shields with high maneuverability during its landing stage.
During the ceremonies, Iran's most senior military commander reiterated Tehran’s position against any change in the historical and geopolitical borders of the region, referring to the escalation of decades-old hostilities between neighbors Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Major General Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic, said, “We will not tolerate changes in the borders of the countries of the region, and we advise the countries of Azerbaijan and Armenia to solve their problems through dialogue,” noting that “Iran will not accept the change of borders with war and will not stay silent."
The death toll began to rise with around ten confirmed civilian casualties, although military force has not been used nationwide as was the case in the bloody protests of November 2019.
Some believe the authorities were caught off guard and are preparing a fierce crackdown. But with the geographic spread of the protests and the determination seen on the part of a new generation of protesters, the use of military force can be extremely costly in human lives.
In large cities such as the capital Tehran, protests are no longer held just in the central areas, but they have mushroomed in multiple districts and suburbs. This would inevitably make a military response harder, but the regime also has its local forces in the form of Basij paramilitary, commanded by the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC).
Some of these local “thugs” as the people see them, have already tried to intervene in the protests by mixing up with the crowds and then grabbing a key figure from among the protesters and shoving him or her toward the police or anti-riot forces who then arrest the person.
There are multiple videos showing people attacking these elements once they are identified and beating them up. Protesters are also much more brazen than in past rounds of unrest, by advancing toward security forces with rocks and sticks and in many instances forcing them to retreat.
This creates a situation where only direct gunfire can stop protesters, who appear to be a mirror of society, with women having a major presence and even older people pitching in and helping the younger, front-line protesters.
The Islamic Republic has proven time and again that it would use military weapons against protesters. In November 2019, at least 1,500 unarmed people were killed in less than a week. Whether this time it would be willing to shed so much blood, is not clear yet.
Popular anger and frustration have increased since 2019 because of more social restrictions and unprecedented economic hardship triggered by United States’ sanctions. The killing of a 22-year-old woman in custody last week was all it took for pent-up anti-regime sentiments to boil over and lead to perhaps one of the biggest opposition challenges the clerical regime has ever faced.
Speaking of clerics, people on social media point out that they are nowhere to be seen, staying put at home to avoid angry protesters. Attacks and public insults against clerics in the streets had already increased even before the protests.
Some believe that the regime has held back on using military force because President Ebrahim Raisi is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, and they do not want a public relations fiasco during his trip. He already carries the baggage of a human rights violator, having been a member of a death commission in 1988 that ordered the killing of up to 5,000 political prisoners serving their sentences.
It is also predictable that if the Islamic Republic resorts to military weapons and kills hundreds or thousands of people, it can damage chances of a nuclear deal with the United States, or at least make it harder for Tehran to try to get more concessions. Washington might also impose more sanctions for human rights violations in such a case.
