Note: Rouhani and the Voice of People's Protest

In his latest remarks, and on the eve of the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, spoke about the importance and necessity of the government hearing the 'voice of the people's advice,' and the right of citizens to 'express opinions and criticize' and even 'protest.' Here are some of his important emphases: - 'No one can prevent the great nation of Iran from expressing opinions, criticism, and even protests. All officials in the country must have an attentive ear to the demands and wishes of the people.' - 'The previous regime, which thought its monarchy was for life and the royal government eternal, lost everything because it did not hear the voice of the people's criticism, nor the voice of the people's advice, nor the voice of reformers, scholars, and intellectuals. It only heard one voice, and that was the voice of the people's revolution. For a government that only wants to hear the voice of the revolution, it is very late. Governments must listen well to the voice of the people's advice, the people's wishes, the people's demands, the people's criticism, and the people's protests.' - 'We will never allow tyranny to return to this land, and we are more than ever ready to be the executors of the people's opinions for the advancement of our dear country, Iran.' First; What protests were heard? Rouhani, as the second most powerful legal person in the political system - after the Leader of the Islamic Republic - openly and once again shows a positive and empathetic reaction to the protest marches last December. Regardless of Rouhani's motivation for expressing these empathetic words, he not only does not show a negative and dismissive reaction to the rising voices of protests but considers it the right of the Iranian people. This manner of engagement in the political space of Iran is not an insignificant event. At least the expression of such statements by the President highlights the demands of the majority of society in the area of political development and emphasizes concepts such as freedom of expression and the right to protest and march. Furthermore; What is the relationship between words and actions? This is not the first time that Rouhani has expressed thoughtful and appealing statements for civil society activists and also in line with the fundamental rights of citizens. But is the President serious and persistent in operationalizing what he says? In recent months (after the 2017 presidential elections), Rouhani's neglect of some of his electoral promises and slogans has been evident. The composition of his cabinet, the selection of some governors, and the noticeable neglect of women, youth, and Sunni individuals have been criticized sufficiently. However, in the recent case, simultaneous with Rouhani's emphasis on the citizens' right to criticize and protest, Iranian newspapers are prevented from publishing a critical letter from Mehdi Karroubi; a prohibition that is enacted by the General Directorate of Internal Press of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, citing an old resolution (2009) from the Supreme National Security Council. Rouhani has chaired this council for over four years; however, the house arrest of the leaders of the Green Movement continues, and their views cannot be republished in domestic media. Despite some openings for Karroubi, Mousavi, and Rahnavard, they still remain in illegal restrictions, and the Ministry of Culture also orders the censorship of news about them. This occurs while, as Karroubi expressed in his recent historical letter to the Leader of the Islamic Republic, 'Since the day after the 2009 elections until today, the so-called national media and government newspapers like Kayhan have continuously insulted me, Engineer Mousavi, and the protesting people. In this path, they deemed every accusation and lie permissible to distort public opinion against us and the protesters. How long will this vile and dishonorable method continue without recognizing the right to respond?' The contradiction between words and actions in Rouhani's government is not limited to this; Rouhani's Ministry of Intelligence has not ceased to threaten political, student, and labor activists and continues to act as a tool for suppressing critics and opponents and as an obstacle to political opening. Third; Significant differences in evaluation and performance Rouhani emphasized in his recent remarks: 'We will never allow tyranny to return to this land.' But does his meaning of this statement include preventing the return of royal tyranny or does it also encompass religious tyranny? Although it is assumed that Rouhani, as the President of the system, would not speak against the establishment of autocracy and authoritarianism in the country, there is a considerable gap between his evaluation and that of some opponents regarding the political conditions of the country. For example, Abolfazl Ghadyani, an activist of the Green Movement, in a letter he published recently, wrote about the established religious tyranny in the country and the autocracy of the Leader of the system, stating: 'The corruption and economic inefficiency of the Velayat-e Faqih government and the suppression of legitimate civil and political freedoms have brought the deprived and marginalized masses to the brink of despair.' In a similar evaluation, Karroubi in his recent letter emphasized that 'I consider the root cause of the country's problems to be the exclusionary approach and distancing from the basis of the political legitimacy of the system (which is the will and desire of the people).' He criticized the autocracy and the suppression of the fundamental rights of Iranians and addressed the top of the political hierarchy: 'Why do you stand against the people instead of understanding their message and respecting their wishes, who are the rightful owners of the country?' In Karroubi's view, the three-decade record of the Leader of the Islamic Republic and also 'the interpretation that the official media of the government has provided of the Velayat-e Faqih over these years means nothing but the suspension of collective reason and the establishment of a personal autocratic system.' It is evident that there is a significant disparity between Rouhani's judgment of the current situation and the perspective of the opponents regarding the political conditions of the country. This difference manifests itself in how to deal with the established situation. On one side, Ghadyani speaks of the importance of political forces opposing the autocracy of the Velayat-e Faqih, and Karroubi calls for 'structural reform of the system' which he states 'is on a downward slope,' and severely criticizes the record of Jannati and the Guardian Council and the engineering of elections; while on the other side, Rouhani speaks of holding numerous elections in the Islamic Republic 'with the rules of democracy.' The counterpart to the words of Ghadyani and Karroubi is the increasing pressure of public opinion and efforts to form a social force supporting democratization to push back against authoritarianism and autocracy, while Rouhani's output is tolerance towards the core of power in the Islamic Republic and not prioritizing political development and related issues. Beyond whether Rouhani wants or can open the ears of the Leader of the Islamic Republic to the many voices of protests and open the eyes of the central power to the demands of society, the main problem is that the first person of the system and the security-military forces aligned with him deliberately show 'indifference' to the cries of protest and the demands of the protesters. Reducing protests to economic problems and distorting widespread marches by referring to the interference of 'enemies' is the authoritarian response of the leadership of the system and its security and media arms. An approach that is unlikely to change with Rouhani's speeches. Rouhani 'if he wants,' can only provide a safer environment for the emergence of the fundamental demands of citizens. Any potential change in the government's approaches is linked to increasing social pressure and the rising voices of protest.