MESOP MIDEAST WATCH : Iran Will ‘Survive Protests,’ Israeli Intelligence General Says

‘But I think that even if these protests wane, the reasons (for them) will remain, and thus the Iranian regime has a problem for years to come,’ Brigadier-General Amit Saar said

 

ReutersDec 5, 2022 7:22 pm IST – A top Israeli intelligence analyst said on Monday that Iran’s clerical rulers were likely to survive protests that have swept the country for weeks, and predicted they could stay in power for years to come.

“The repressive Iranian regime will, it seems, manage to survive these protests. It has constructed very, very strong tools for dealing with such protests,” Brigadier-General Amit Saar told the military intelligence think-tank Gazit Institute.

“But I think that even if these protests wane, the reasons (for them) will remain, and thus the Iranian regime has a problem for years to come.”

The nationwide protests in Iran, erupted in September after public outrage over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. She was arrested by Iran’s morality police in Tehran for violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code. Iran’s government insists Amini was not mistreated in police custody, but her family says her body showed bruises and other signs of beating after she was detained.

In another sign of growing alarm on the part of authorities in response to the protest movement, President Ebrahim Raisi met with ministers privately in the capital’s parliament, according to the ISNA news agency.

The report said the agenda of the meeting included the latest developments in the country, but gave no further information. While there was speculation that the meeting may cover the demands of demonstrators, observers did not have high expectations.

On Friday, Iran’s attorney general said that the hijab law requiring women to cover their heads is under review, and later announced on Sunday that Iran’s morality police, mainly responsible for enforcing the women’s dress code, has been disbanded.

Regime critics reacted apprehensively to the announcement. The problem is not the morality police, but the headscarf requirement, one Persian activist tweeted. “Women must be able to move freely without headscarves,” he said, noting that this would be “only the first step.”