Iranian Security Official Warns of Potential Renewed 'Incidents and Protests' This Year

The head of Iran's Passive Defense Organization warned on Tuesday, April 17, about the possibility of incidents similar to the protests of December 2017, emphasizing the need for a 'proactive' approach to the situation. According to ISNA, quoting Gholamreza Jalali, he stated that 'there is a possibility that a series of incidents and threats may occur this year as well.' In December of last year, dozens of cities in Iran witnessed widespread protests that began over the economic and livelihood conditions of the people and quickly escalated to political issues and the pillars of the Islamic Republic. These protests lasted several days, resulting in over 20 deaths and thousands of arrests. These protests seem to have had a lasting impact on the officials of the Islamic Republic, as reports and news on this matter are published weekly. In this context, Jalali stated that 'like before, our main war is an economic war, this issue is the main axis of threats.' On the other hand, the issue of foreign social media networks operating in the country has also caught Jalali's attention, emphasizing that 'naturally, social networks target the intellectual, economic, and security organization of the people.' He clearly cited the December protests as an example: 'At the beginning of December, we saw a pattern of this issue being implemented.' He said: 'The issues of people-centeredness, economy, and social networks play a serious role in the area of threats, which the enemy seeks to pursue in the security domain.' Just a few days after the start of the nationwide protests in December, which erupted in dozens of cities in Iran, Telegram and Instagram were filtered in the country, and security forces arrested several individuals involved in social media. These two networks were unblocked after a while and with the end of the unrest in the country. However, on January 16, 170 members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly sent a letter to the heads of the three branches, stating that the recent gatherings occurred 'on the platform' of foreign messaging apps and called for the replacement of domestic messaging apps instead of these networks and the regulation of VPNs. Since then, the debate over the necessity of filtering social networks has not ended. In another part of his remarks on Tuesday, Jalali spoke about 'some' internal currents in the country that he claimed have 'taken the path of hypocrisy.' Jalali said: 'If we look at the letters that have been written to the leadership and extract the main points from two currents, you cannot distinguish which is left and which is right.' According to this Iranian security official, in these critical and protest letters, 'the axis of conflict is against the leadership and the ruling system, which everyone has written in their own language.' The head of the Passive Defense Organization spoke ambiguously on this matter and did not provide further explanation, but it seems that his reference is to the criticisms of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his associates. The former president of Iran has accused judicial officials of 'intending to take the lives' of Hamid Baqaei and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei by 'trampling all legal and even human standards.' Hamid Baqaei, who has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for 'embezzlement' and 'misappropriation of state funds,' was arrested on March 12, 2018, to serve his sentence. Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's chief of staff during his presidency, was also arrested two days after he burned Baqaei's sentence in front of the British embassy in Tehran. Ahmadinejad has written at least two letters to the Supreme Leader protesting these rulings.