From Soleimani's Ring to Raisi; How the Islamic Republic Politically Utilizes Rings?

After the body of Ebrahim Raisi was found at the site of the helicopter crash that carried him and his companions, Iranian media launched extensive propaganda regarding the ring Raisi was holding at the time of the crash. A video of the 'moment of discovery' of this ring was published on social media, showing someone presenting it to the camera. The release of this video and the widespread re-sharing of the latest example of the Islamic Republic's use of the ring as a political propaganda tool raises questions about how the ring entered the propaganda of the Islamic Republic and how Iranian officials use it for their political goals. The publication of images of Ebrahim Raisi's ring immediately reminds audiences of Qassem Soleimani's ring. In 2019, in a similar case, the Islamic Republic conducted extensive propaganda regarding Soleimani's ring, the then-commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guard, after he was killed in Iraq. At that time, photos of Soleimani's ring in his severed hand were widely circulated in media and social media accounts supporting the government. The propaganda regarding this ring reached a point where two years later, when the website of the Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post was hacked, attributed to Iranian hackers, a graphic image referencing Qassem Soleimani's ring was placed on the front page of this website. In this image, a missile was launched from a ring (recalling Soleimani's severed hand's ring) towards a location symbolizing the dome of Israel's nuclear reactor in Dimona, accompanied by Soleimani's statement to Israel: 'We are closer to you than you think; to a place you cannot even imagine.' The propaganda surrounding Qassem Soleimani's ring even reached the stage of 'commercialization.' For instance, some jewelers in Iran sell rings featuring an image of Qassem Soleimani. Ruhollah Khomeini, the former leader of the Islamic Republic, wore rings like other religious figures, but it was Ali Khamenei, his successor, who introduced the ring into the propaganda and political advertising of the government. In the latest example, during his visit to the Tehran International Book Fair held in May, Khamenei 'blessed' a women's ring and gave it to a booth worker to deliver to a patient. Khamenei gifted this ring for the 'success' of the surgery that was to be performed on this patient. The leader of the Islamic Republic has previously gifted his ring or rings in general to those who visited him during official meetings. For example, Baqer Mohammadi, the goalkeeper of the Iranian national futsal team, told the official Islamic Republic news agency, IRNA, that in a recent meeting his team had with Khamenei, he received a ring as a gift from the leader. Khamenei uses the act of gifting rings, especially to convey political messages. A few years ago, he gifted his agate ring to Alireza Karimi, an Iranian freestyle wrestler who deliberately lost to his Russian opponent during competitions in Poland at the request of his coaches to avoid facing an Israeli opponent in the next round. In another instance, in 2019, after the Islamic Republic's military forces targeted an American drone in the Persian Gulf, Abolfazl Tavakoli Bina, a member of the Central Council of the Islamic Coalition Party, stated in a speech that the leader of the Islamic Republic 'sends a ring to the one who pressed the button [to launch against this drone].' Alongside the ring, Khamenei has also transformed the traditional and ethnic symbol of the chador into an ideological symbol of the government and even repression of opponents. A few years ago, Mohammad Ali Jafari, the then-commander of the Revolutionary Guard, said Khamenei 'draped the chador around himself to confront the reformists.' In recent years, the publication of photos of officials flaunting their rings has increased. The use of rings by officials has become so widespread that some websites have published reports on 'what rings officials wear?' or similar topics. Additionally, officials imitate the Supreme Leader by gifting rings to their supporters. Last December, Iranian media reported that Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of the judiciary, gifted his ring 'which was a memento from his wife after 46 years' to a teenage boy. Mohseni Ejei, known for his record of human rights violations and under human rights sanctions, attempted to portray himself as kind and people-oriented, stating: 'I couldn't break this boy's heart.' What is mentioned in Shia narratives about rings mostly relates to quotes from Shia Imams, and Shia jurists have also expanded the etiquette of rings. Hassan Youssefi Eshkouri, a researcher of religious texts, told Radio Farda that in Islamic tradition, the ring does not hold such a prominent place for the Prophet of Islam, who used the ring primarily for sealing. Eshkouri emphasizes that the ring symbolizes power for Ali Khamenei, and he uses the ring in an 'authoritarian' manner. Since the Iranian Revolution, alongside the increase in the number of shrines, the development of holy places, and the establishment of new Imamzadehs, the sale of religious rings in their vicinity has also sharply increased, and the government continues to politically exploit religious sentiments regarding rings.