{"id":265809,"date":"2022-10-25T16:12:27","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T14:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=265809"},"modified":"2023-02-07T03:50:30","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T02:50:30","slug":"those-who-kept-the-iranian-myth-of-reform-alive-acknowledge-regime-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-protests\/those-who-kept-the-iranian-myth-of-reform-alive-acknowledge-regime-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Those Who Kept the Iranian Myth of Reform Alive Acknowledge Regime Change\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Iran-Protests-beginning-of-a-new-era-NCRI\"<\/p>\n

\u201cOur time is up,\u201d the state-run Etemad daily<\/a> quoted Fayaz Zahed, a so-called \u201creformist\u201d activist, as saying on October 22. \u201cInviting people to peaceful negotiations, dialogue, or trying to reason with them is very hard or even terminated.\u201d\u00a0 Why would Zahed make such an acknowledgment while other regime officials are constantly bragging about stability?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Protests are waging across Iran. People from all walks of life, particularly youth and women, are participating in these demonstrations, calling out the entire regime. What was initially sparked by the tragic death of a young woman in police custody became a nationwide uprising, and now seemingly, we are witnessing a revolution in the making<\/a>. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Regime officials and experts like Zahed sense the danger better than anyone else. They face a volatile society and see an angry population threatening everything their ilk has helped to preserve for decades.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t believe how much pledges to calmness, dialogue, reform, negotiation, logic, etc. have become tough (these days); not tough, rather it is over. This is the biggest threat to the psychological and political stability of the country,\u201d Zahed said, and by \u201ccountry,\u201d he meant the ruling theocracy.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If Zahed and his peers had slightly cared about Iran\u2019s stability, they wouldn\u2019t be occupying top positions in a regime that squanders national wealth on terrorism and inflicts violence on people. Zahed, who worked as an advisor to the so-called \u201cmoderate\u201d President Hassan Rouhani<\/a>, did not have a sudden change of heart. But when there is nothing more to loot, thieves lock horns.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut I have no answer if you ask me for a solution. I can\u2019t even explain it to my daughters, let alone the students or the outer audience. Suppose I\u2019d answer it fairly about who is responsible for this situation. In that case, I\u2019d say that the share of the Islamic Republic of Iran is undoubtedly more than the rest,\u201d Zahed said, rejecting officials\u2019 \u201cnational dialogue\u201d rhetoric.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Nor is the current uprising tied to any of the regime\u2019s internal factions or groupings. There are no illusions about reform or gradual change from within. One of the popular slogans in #Tehran<\/a> is \u201cHard-liners, reformers, the game is now over\u201d#Iranprotests<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/saMjwuA42t<\/a><\/p>\n

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) January 9, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n