Some protesters believe the regime could also use the executions as a way to bolster its own supporters and reduce the risk of dissent within its ranks by showing it will deal harshly with alleged crimes against members of the security forces and pro-militias. -governmental. . .
“It’s like they want to say to their security guards, ‘See, we’re not letting anyone get away with hurting you in any way,'” Saeed said.
“Some members of the Basij and security forces are dead and the regime feels it is its duty to take revenge,” said Tehran resident Yan, an aspiring filmmaker also in his 30s. who also took part in the demonstrations. “Blood for blood, eye for eye, that’s the mentality of the regime,” he added. “This means that for every one of their security force members who dies, they will hang a protester by the neck in retaliation.”
The executions were met with a range of emotions among Iranians at home and abroad. “My feeling is one of shock, resignation and heightened determination,” Ansari said.
Saeed says he was so disheartened when he heard about the first execution last week that he lay in bed all morning, unable to move. “I woke up in the morning and saw the news,” he said. “I lay still and silent in my bed for two hours, turned off my phone and went back to sleep out of sheer sadness.”
That feeling quickly turned to rage, he said, coupled with renewed fearlessness at the prospect of being imprisoned by the regime now that some have lost their lives.
“I have to admit that I was afraid of being imprisoned before these executions, but now I think I could tolerate it,” he said. “There is no longer a gray area” between the protesters and the authorities, he added. “Either you are with the people on the side of justice, or against them on the side of cruelty.”
Many people are terrified of executions, but Saeed noted that with fear comes unpredictability, which he says is a potential danger to the regime. “Anger and fear are much more dangerous than just anger, and that’s how people feel,” he added. “When you’re scared and angry, you do unexpected things.”
The unrest erupted in mid-September when a Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, 22, died in a hospital three days after being arrested by the country’s vice squad for allegedly breaking the country’s strict dress code. A three-day nationwide strike earlier this month saw daily life in this country of 85 million people come to a halt, and there has been a push on social media for another strike this week.
In total, at least 475 people have been killed and 18,000 others arrested, according to the Washington-based monitoring group Human Rights Activists in Iran. Iran’s Interior Ministry said earlier this month The death toll is 200, including members of the security forces who were killed.
“The Iranian authorities are determined to continue their killing, both on the streets and through sham trials,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa. a statement after Shekari’s execution. “The clear objective is to instill fear among the public in a desperate attempt to cling to power and end the popular uprising.”
Amnesty has counted 12 people it says face the death penalty because of the protests, and five others who are on trial or have been charged with crimes that carry the death penalty. Rahnavard was the sixth.
But even if judicial executions continue, many of those involved in the uprising say they will not be deterred.
“Revolutions have consequences and we have to pay the price for freedom,” Yan said. “Unfortunately that sometimes means losing lives.”
The Associated Press contributed.
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