{"id":306743,"date":"2023-05-01T22:12:19","date_gmt":"2023-05-01T21:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=306743"},"modified":"2023-05-01T22:12:19","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T21:12:19","slug":"is-civil-disobedience-the-answer-to-irans-ongoing-uprising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-protests\/is-civil-disobedience-the-answer-to-irans-ongoing-uprising\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Civil Disobedience the Answer to Iran’s Ongoing Uprising?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"iran<\/p>\n

An ongoing wave of dissent relentlessly continues across Iran. With the clerical regime\u2019s demise on the horizon, there are various speculations about what strategy results faster in regime change. Among the promoted options is \u201ccivil disobedience.\u201d But would it work?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Civil disobedience is a form of nonviolent resistance where individuals intentionally break laws or regulations to challenge unjust government actions or policies. It was popularized by Henry David Thoreau in his essay “Civil Disobedience<\/a>” in 1849, where he argued that individuals had a moral obligation to resist unjust laws.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the most notable examples of civil disobedience include Mahatma Gandhi’s Salt March in India in 1930, the Montgomery Bus Boycott led by Martin Luther King Jr. in the US in 1955, and the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, civil disobedience can be realized in a country with true reform is possible and a ruling establishment that tolerates peaceful dissent.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Iranian regime is a unique political system that is governed by a Supreme Leader who has absolute power over all branches of the regime, including the judiciary, the legislative, and the executive. A brutal security apparatus, including the Revolutionary Guard<\/a> and the Basij paramilitary force, also characterize the regime.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a country like Iran, where the regime is medieval, civil disobedience does not lead to the regime’s overthrow. The regime responds with the most brutal suppression of any protest threatening to overthrow it. This is evident from the regime’s history, marked by the violent suppression of dissent.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Until June 1981, when there was a quasi-democratic atmosphere in Iran, opposition groups tried to express their point of view on the political scene of Iran through political activities. But the mullahs’ regime banned any activity and started arresting and killing the opponents. The regime’s response was swift and brutal, with thousands of political activists and intellectuals detained, tortured, and executed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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October 27 – Tehran, #Iran<\/a>
Chitgar district
Protesters chanting:
"This is the year Seyed Ali (Khamenei) is overthrown!"
"Death to Khamenei!"
"We're all Nika & we'll fight to the end!"
"Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!"#IranRevolution<\/a>#\u0622\u0632\u0627\u062f\u06cc_\u0622\u0632\u0627\u062f\u06cc_\u0622\u0632\u0627\u062f\u06cc<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/qC1gta2j9x<\/a><\/p>\n

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) October 27, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n