Acknowledgment from Interior Ministry Official: December Protests Transcended All Political Factions in the Country

While the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and his close associates have attributed the nationwide protests in December to economic issues, the Deputy Minister of Security acknowledged that these protests "transcended all political factions in the country." According to ILNA news agency, Hossein Zolfaqari stated on Thursday, March 8, at a conference of governors regarding the December protests that "we have not seen such a phenomenon in the past" and "we are facing a situation that is different from the past." He pointed out the "rapid expansion of protests," especially in smaller cities, claiming that "violence in these protests was more than ever before." Zolfaqari admitted that "these protests transcended all political factions in the country and no party or political or religious group led them." The nationwide protests in December began in over 100 cities in Iran, initially sparked by slogans against Hassan Rouhani during a gathering on December 28 in Mashhad, but from that day, some protesters chanted slogans against all officials of the Islamic Republic and in the following days, some protesters called for regime change. Among the slogans that gained widespread attention in the media and social networks was "Reformist, Principlist, the story is over." While the Supreme Leader and his associates have attributed these protests to economic issues, the President of Iran stated that these protesters also had political and social demands. The Union of the Nation Party, a reformist party, also spoke about the role of Ebrahim Raisi, the custodian of the Astan Quds Razavi, and Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, in organizing these gatherings in Mashhad. However, Ayatollah Alamolhoda denied this accusation. The Supreme Leader and several other officials of the Islamic Republic have accused the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia of organizing these gatherings, and Mohsen Rezaei, the Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran, also claimed without providing evidence that some officials from these countries and associates of Saddam Hussein organized these protests in a meeting in Erbil, Iraq. Nechirvan Barzani, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and officials from the United States and Israel have denied this claim. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Sadqi, a member of parliament, tweeted: "According to intelligence officials, no foreign agent has been involved in the recent unrest so far." The Deputy Minister of Security also emphasized that 85% of those arrested during the December protests were under 35 years old, adding that "it should be noted that 70% of the country is under 40 years old." Zolfaqari also stated that "one of the components of these protests was the maximum use of cyberspace, and media framing caused the flames of protests to grow." He added: "Before it is too late, we must confront the virtual world as we do the real world and establish laws and frameworks for it." Previously, several principlist clerics and some senior officials of the Islamic Republic had attributed the rapid spread of the December protests to the role of social networks. A few days after the start of the nationwide protests in December, Telegram and Instagram were filtered in Iran, and security forces arrested several individuals involved in social networks. These two networks were unblocked after a while and with the end of the unrest. Principlists are calling for strict control of cyberspace and social networks in Iran, stating that users should use domestic social networks. Freedom of expression advocates have always criticized the Iranian government's obstruction of citizens' free access to the internet, and the U.S. government recently sanctioned the Supreme Council of Cyberspace and the National Cyberspace Center of Iran for their role in creating such restrictions. According to "Freedom House," during Rouhani's presidency, restrictions on freedom of expression have not decreased, and throughout the year, the arrest and suppression of managers of reformist channels on the Telegram messaging app have continued.