Demonstrations in a number of Iranian cities have taken an unexpected turn. Initially instigated by the clerics, they’ve been taken over by secular forces predominantly opposed to the mullahs’ regime.
Be careful, Iranian Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri had said. Anyone who stirs up political protest runs the risk of losing control of it. He made clear that this also applied to those who encouraged the demonstrations that began towards the end of last week. “The people behind events like these will get their fingers burned,” he said. “They think they are targeting the government with their actions.” But in fact, Jahangiri seemed to imply, they were primarily damaging themselves.
Clearly, he was right. Many observers noted that the protests didn’t start just anywhere, but in the city of Mashhad in the north-east of the country, near the border with Turkmenistan. The metropolis of 3 million people, one of the seven sacred sites of Shiite Islam, is the hometown of the conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi. He was Hassan Rouhani’s main — defeated — rival in the presidential election of May 2017.
Raisi’s father-in-law, the radical cleric Ahmad Alamolhoda, also lives in Mashhad. Recently, Alamolhoda protested against the decision to allow concerts to take place in Iran again. The current, ongoing protests kicked off the day after the Tehran police chief announced that women contravening the regulations on the wearing of the veil would no longer be arrested, but would have to attend educational classes instead.