Losers of the December 2017 Protest Movement

The repressive forces began their violent crackdown on the protests on the night of December 9, 2017, after weighing the situation for two days. Whatever actions the government takes against these protests, whether it be engineering communications and transportation systems or attacking protesters with water cannons, batons, and live ammunition, it is ultimately the loser. The 'stable island' of Ayatollah Khamenei has experienced serious turbulence. Whether the government allows gatherings to continue and faces challenges from the people calling the clergy 'divine' and 'capitalist' (to drain energies) or shoots directly at protesters (as in Lorestan where two people have been killed so far), the protests are a source of shame for a government that claims to represent the justice of Ali. The Islamic Republic has not skimped on providing tools and services for repression, despite lacking in safety, health, and public education. However, there are three other groups that are considered allies of the government in this situation and will benefit from its losses: religious and non-religious reformists, many of whom have remained silent, with some even aligning with the repressive apparatus (naturally, those who encouraged people to vote for Rouhani months ago find it difficult to stand alongside the December 2017 protesters), Western leftist media that are proving Trump's claim about 'fake news' by either failing to cover or misrepresenting the protests, and the European Union, which has not raised a voice against the repression of protesters. This union has adopted a policy of cooperation with the Islamic Republic at the cost of silence regarding human rights violations in Iran. The efforts of religious reformists and Iranian leftists to maintain their beloved anti-American and anti-Israeli government in Iran is not a new issue; they have pursued such a policy for four decades. Therefore, it was expected that they would not appreciate anti-Velayat-e-Faqih, anti-Khamenei, and anti-Shia clerical slogans and would invite people to refrain from radicalism and overthrow. Reformists have abandoned the public sphere in the nine years since the Green Movement and have taken refuge under Khamenei's cloak and the boots of the Revolutionary Guards. For this reason, they live in a bubble where they perceive the people's protest movement as a government plan in collaboration with monarchists. Some of the youth who participated in the Green Movement expressed what they remembered from 2009 at the start of the protests, but within 24 hours, their slogans evaporated. The December 2017 protests pushed reformists out of the realm of transformative political movements. Reformists and moderates have employed four strategies to demoralize protesters and distort their demands: 1) Claiming that the protests were initiated by hardliners: 'One can somewhat see the hands of the government's opponents behind these events.' (Abbas Abdi, Etemad, December 9, 2017). This view quickly spread, asserting that the protests were started by Alam al-Huda in Mashhad, thereby delegitimizing them. Some former reformists (now hardliners) cannot accept any movement that is not under the banner of government reformists (the repentants of 2009) as authentic and independent, despite acknowledging the prevalent humiliation and discrimination. 2) Blaming Ahmadinejad for the situation: 'A year ago, the necessity of extinguishing dangerous seditions was discussed; however, that sedition was rooted not only in the election process but also in Ahmadinejad's project.' (Hossam al-Din Ashna, Tabnak, December 9, 2017). 3) Declaring the future of these protests as very dark: 'A passive and hopeless person has a high capacity to be attracted to any irrational and uncalculated action... One can somewhat see the hands of the government's opponents behind these events.' (Abbas Abdi, Etemad, December 9, 2017). Note that protesting against a dictatorial and totalitarian government is labeled as irrational. Attaollah Mohajerani described these protests as rootless without explaining what type of protest they are rooted in. He tweeted: 'BBC and VOA cover the protests in Iran with excitement and cheer. If they knew the country and the people of Iran, they would realize that this rootless wave will subside.' Mohsen Hashemi, the head of Tehran City Council, also called the protests radical and illegal: 'Street protests are emotional and illegal; this is not the right way, as these criticisms are drowned out by the few shouts of radicals... The way to express criticisms and demands must be within the framework of the law. The methods of illegal street protests are not suitable solutions.' (Fars, December 10, 2017). 4) Reducing demands to economic issues and labeling the protests as politically exploited. Feyzollah Arab-Sorkhi wrote on Twitter about the recent protests over economic and livelihood problems: 'Regardless of all behind-the-scenes factors, people face various economic and social problems, and protesting is at least the legal right of the people; all responsible entities in the system, including the government and judiciary, must be accountable for the people's problems. Moreover, all friends of Iran should know that the country cannot bear the costs of another collapse.' He aligns with the protesters with one foot while fleeing from them with the other. Ziba Kalam described the protests as 'political exploitation of economic problems.' (Iran, December 9, 2017). Reformists are gradually handing over the political capital they gained in the 1990s and 2000s to the government at a bargain price to be able to pass the Guardian Council's vetting and participate in sham elections. They still want their umbilical cord to be connected to government rents and privileges, even if they have to go to prison for a while. Reformists once pretended to be alongside the protesters against the government, but it seems they no longer feel the need to pretend, as they have completely abandoned the first part of 'pressure from below, bargaining from above.' Leftist Media On the day when protesters took to the streets in small and large cities in Iran, the Guardian (a British leftist publication) reported on the government's December 9 ceremony, while the New York Times (an American leftist publication) reported on the government's open hand in securing women's rights (it is unclear what new development has occurred regarding women's rights in Iran). In a brief report on the protests three days later (after reporting it on state television), this newspaper equated the protests with the government gathering on December 9. All the photos in the report were from the government gathering. This newspaper had remained silent about these protests for three days after they broke out. The Washington Post also woke up after three days. These are media outlets that report on government gatherings on the same day or the next. Left-leaning television networks like CBS did not present any report on the protests in any of their news segments. On the fourth day, the New York Times' main page editorial advised Trump to remain silent regarding developments in Iran. The animosity of these media outlets towards Trump and Republicans has caused them to align completely with Zarif, Rouhani, and other security and military forces of the Islamic Republic, acting in a way that their actions are perceived as being aligned with moderate Shia Islamists. (See Tabnak's report on the 'balanced line of the New York Times' in the report on the protests, December 9, 2017). The New York Times reporter in Tehran attributed the protests not to the government's policies and its expansions but to sanctions and the policies of the Trump administration. These media outlets are auctioning off their credibility on this issue. The European Union The European Union is the third loser in two ways. The unrest will make European investors even more hesitant to invest in Iran. Additionally, the EU's silence will teach the government's opponents that they should never count on European leftists who seek alliances with Islamists. The sacred alliance of the left and Islamism is now evident not only at the level of political movements and parties but also at the level of governments. Interestingly, reformists, the European Union (and the Democratic Party of the United States), and American and European leftist media were all, until a year ago, pumping currency into the government to create a balance of power in the region. Now, all three have either remained silent in the face of protests or have dismissed them as fruitless and blind. It is no coincidence that all governments, parties, and groups that sought to finalize the nuclear agreement with Iran and were serious opponents of Trump's policies towards Iran have either ignored or opposed the December 2017 protests. They either consider the ruling Islamists in Iran their natural allies or believe that to preserve the JCPOA, they must keep the repressive and totalitarian government on their side.