Wife Of Iranian President Blames US For Protests

Before its award for Best Song for Social Change at the Grammys 2023, a new category at the gala, Shervin’s creation had touched millions of Iranians who are protesting against the Islamic Republic for about five months now. The single had also become a viral sensation even among non-Persian-speaking music fans who were in support of the protests.

Lauding the track, Jill Biden added that the new award was put in place to recognize a tune that “responds to the social issues of our time and has the potential for positive global impact," and said she was "honored" to announce the first winner in the category. She also noted that more than 130,000 people sent their submissions for the song.

According to Variety in October, 95,000 of the submissions were made for Hajipour’s song. Describing the song as "stirring," Biden said, “This song became the anthem of the Mahsa Amini protests, a powerful and poetic poem for freedom and women’s rights."

The song, which was released in the early days of protests ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini in 'hijab police' custody, was viewed more than 40 million times in two days on Shervin’s Instagram account, and has since become the unofficial anthem of the women-led uprising. It soon became one of the most covered songs by professional singers such as Rana Mansour and a myriad of amateur Iranians. In October, British indie band Coldplay also made headlines after the group invited Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani to perform the song onstage with them in Buenos Aires.

The word ‘baraye,’ which is translated from Persian as “for …” or “for the sake of”, is repeated at the start of every line of the song, which is composed of a collection of tweets by Iranians bemoaning the situation in their country: “For dancing in the streets; for the fear of kissing; for the students and their future”, and “for women, life, freedom”.

After the impactful song went viral and rocked social media, Shervin was arrested by the regime’s agents and the song was removed from his page. He was released on bail in October after he published a forced confession and an apology on his Instagram page. His case is still going through the 'legal' process, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Hajipour, who had gained relative popularity in 2019 when he appeared as a contestant in the Iranian television talent show, New Era, now is among the favorite singers of the Iranian protests, along with rap artists Toomaj Salehi and Saman Seydi, whose stage name is Yasin.

After winning the Grammy, Hajipour simply wrote on Instagram, "We won." However, a large number of Iranians from all around the world congratulated him for the award, calling it a triumph for the antigovernment protests. Another Iranian Grammy award winner Kayhan Kalhor‌ posted a story and wished success for Hajipour while German member of European Parliament, Hannah Neumann, tweeted “Beyoncé may have won 32 Grammys -- but this one surely is the most important one this year.”

Women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad said that “Once, if we were killed on streets, or hanged, no one would hear us. But now, our cry of protest, our music and art, has crossed the borders of the world.”

Canada-based activist Hamed Esmaeilion who has so far organized several rounds of worldwide protest rallies against the Islamic Republic, also posted to mark Hajipour’s victory and paid a tribute to all the artists that were killed by the Islamic Republic.

A video on social media shows that the doctor refuses to attend the pro-Hijab woman saying this is his private office and he cannot tolerate such moves.

Fars News Agency which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard reported Monday that the doctor has been summoned and indicted while his office has been sealed.

Despite nationwide protests in the past few months following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the ‘morality police,’ the judicial and law enforcement agencies of the clerical regime continue to strictly follow the observance of the "mandatory hijab".

On January 16, the commander of the Bushehr police force in the south announced that several girls with “improper hijab” had been arrested on the charge of “assaulting a veiled lady”.

The arrest came after a video showed the girls quarrelling with a woman who was warning them about mandatory hijab in the street.

In the last few weeks, numerous reports have been published about police sealing off businesses, restaurants, cafes and even in some cases pharmacies for not observing the mandatory hijab rules by employees.

The Islamic Republic has increased pressure on women for non-compliance with the mandatory hijab in a situation that the country has been the scene of nationwide protests since September 16.

Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, who is a leading figure among hardliners, in a television program contradicted what the Islamic Republic has tried to portray as limited protests since September.

Bahonar, who is also a member of the regime’s Discernment Council, said that the protests were “more widespread and deeper than demonstrations in the past five years, but he still used the word “riots” to characterize the popular movement.

The clerical regime has refused to recognize that the unrest triggered by the death in custody of a young woman in September was a genuine popular expression of dissatisfaction at the multiple crises Iran faces.

However, he admitted that “certain grievances and inefficiency in the economy, politics and even culture and diplomacy exist in the country.” On a few occasions in the past one year, Bahonar who was a deputy speaker of parliament, has asked for reforming governance in the Islamic Republic, even directly appealing to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in February 2022 to support “structural changes.”

Bahonar has a proven track record in organizing and mobilizing conservative groups. He did that following the landslide victory of Iran's reformists in the 1997 presidential election and the 2000 parliamentary elections and consolidated the conservative groups. Nonetheless, he had remained conspicuously silent on major political issues until Iran’s economic situation deteriorated and President Ebrahim Raisi’s first few months in office came as a shocking disappointment to many conservatives.

In his latest statement, he repeated his previous position that "We need a second Republic," meaning that a Constitutional Assembly should be formed to determine new boundaries for the government's authority and the people's rights.

On the face of it, this is not much different from what Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the reformist opposition figure under house arrest, said Saturday. In scathing criticism of the regime, Mousavi put forth three conditions: A free and untainted referendum about the necessity to change or write a new constitution. Second, in case of a positive vote by the people, to form a constitutional assembly composed of the “real representatives of the nation” through a free and fair election. Third, a second referendum to approve the draft constitution to establish a regime based on rule of law, in conformity with human rights and the will of the people.

Although Bahonar repeated the official line that “enemies” played a major role in instigating the protests, he called for wider political participation. He argued that conservatives' political rivals should not be barred from elections as it was the case in the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2020 and 2021. He also criticized the political system for weakening the country's political parties.

This runs counter to Khamenei’s policy of consolidating rule under hardliners, with a substantial number of parliament members representing the Revolutionary Guard at the expense of hundreds of other loyalists who were prevented from running in the elections.

Bahonar criticized the one-sided vote in 2020 and argued that it resulted in a low elections turnout and convinced foreign powers that the Islamic Republic has lost its legitimacy.

Referring to recent protests and noting that they have not come to an end, Bahonar said that after the protests recede, “we should not forget about the people's grievances and protests, although we tend to forget about their complaints as soon as the situation calms down."

Khatami issued a long statement, as a few other reformists also issued their statements just days before the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Republic on February 11.

During the past days several reformist, moderate and conservative politicians in Iran, including former president Hassan Rouhani, Expediency Council member Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, former deputy Interior Minister Mostafa Tajzadeh and former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi pointed out that the government needs to surrender to demands for reforms to save the country from havoc.

However, every one of these political figures put forth his own solution which mainly revolved around amending the Constitution or ensuring its full implementation.

It was only Mousavi who called for a brand-new Constitution based on a referendum and end to ‘reformism’ as a strategy for change, but he stopped short of saying how the current political establishment should be removed first.

Khatami who has never officially acknowledged his role as the leader of the ‘reformists’ accepted that "reforms have reached a deadlock." However, he still argued that another attempt to bring about change should pursue the path of reforms, without saying how the establishment would allow free elections or free speech.

Those opponents who demand a regime change have long argued that the Islamic Republic is not “reformable”, but politicians like Khatami who have remained loyal to the concept of an Islamic republic have never accepted that their 25-year efforts to bring about meaningful change have failed.

Jamshid Barzegar, a political analyst in Europe and a contributor to Iran International TV reacted in a series of tweets to Khatami’s statement, arguing that it is an attempt to help the regime rather than a serious plan for change. He contrasted the former president’s words with those of Mousavi and said that the latter has really parted ways with ‘reformism.’

The former president also warned that Iran is facing an all-out crisis which has its roots within the country. He further called for changes in the current constitution of the Islamic Republic to cope with the shortcomings that are visible everywhere.

Others have pointed out that amending the constitution is not a solution if clerical rule is not abolished and complete freedoms are not granted.

Khatami also insisted that the general feeling in society is that the situation is bad, and Iran's enemies are taking advantage. At the same time, the government has been restricting civil liberties, he said. The result is a wide gap between the people and the government.

For the young protesters in Iran, using terms such as “enemies” would sound like repeating Khamenei’s slogans. They want to replace the Islamic Republic with a secular and democratic system, and do not believe that the United States, Europe or even Israel is an enemy.

Khatami warned that the collapse of the Islamic Republic will lead to chaos, civil war and bloodshed, an argument often used by the regime.

As his way out of the crisis he suggested strengthening national solidarity by giving a chance to all ideas, ethnic groups and religions to take part in the political dynamics through holding free and fair elections.

Khatami's third suggestion was declaring a general amnesty for all prisoners. Correcting the judicial process in Iran was his fourth suggestion. Freedom of news dissemination and supporting independent media and campaigning against all forms of corruption in the system were his fifth and sixth suggestions.

Khatami's next two suggestions were about leadership. He called for the accountability of all officials without mentioning Khamenei.

Preventing the military from intervening in political and economic affairs, changing the foreign policy, and putting an end to security organizations’ control over hiring and firing government employees were the other solutions Khatami suggested as a way out of the current crisis in Iran.

However, he did not propose a strategy or tactics to achieve these goals. It remains unclear if he would support protests or civil disobedience to force the government to relent. Short of that, many have expressed nice wishes for change, but Khamenei and his supporters have persisted in their ways of governance.

Elnaz Mohammadi, the social service editor of Ham-Mihan newspaper has been arrested after being summoned to the notorious Evin prison in Tehran, reports from Tehran say.

Elnaz Mohammadi, is the twin sister of Elaheh Mohammadi, who was arrested on September 29 and is still behind bars.

Nilufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi are the two journalists who reported the death of Mahsa Amini and her funeral.

Earlier, Masoud Setayeshi, Spokesman for Judiciary had said the two detained journalists are accused of “conspiracy to commit a crime against national security and propaganda against the establishment” and their case is about to be finally decided.

Elnaz Mohammadi previously wrote on the fortieth day after Amini’s death that "No reporter attended the ceremony. When people arrived at the cemetery in Saqqez, Kordestan, no media representative was there except for those who were recording the event by their cell phones.”

The pressure on the journalists, who reported Amini’s death comes as the Islamic Republic has not yet responded to the complaint filed by her family.