On October 14, 2023, shocking and horrific news emerged; renowned Iranian director and writer, Dariush Mehrjui and his wife had been brutally stabbed to death at their villa near Tehran, Iran.
This is not the first time that the regime of the Islamic Republic has resorted to such bloody solutions when faced with socio-political challenges. Due to the incompatibility of its dogmatic and antiquated nature and lack of familiarity with ‘sensible’ solutions, the Iranian regime is constantly at odds with everyone.
The Regime’s History of Violence
We have repeatedly witnessed the regime’s emerging tensions with Iranian citizens who are involved in the international arena, as well as tensions with other countries. The ruling Mullahs find the solution to get out of these self-made impasses only by creating chaos, insecurity, and bloodshed.
The executions of the 1980s, the continuation and insistence on the eight-year war with Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, and the deliberate downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are clear examples of this type of attitude of the regime. The failure to manage international affairs peacefully and engage in effective communication or constructive cooperation has been a consistent characteristic of the Islamic Republic.
Mullahs have engaged in numerous mass killings, such as the ‘Chain murders of Iran’ in the 1990s; a series of executions in which the regime slaughtered more than 80 Iranian intellectuals, writers, and political or civil activists. All the murders were carried out by the Ministry of Intelligence of the regime under the guidance of one of the senior deputies, Saeed Emami, who had close ties to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.
Three decades later, now again in the same pattern, the regime killed a director and his wife, sending a message to the Iranian elite – “keep quiet if you want to stay safe”.
The youth as catalysts for change: A new social wisdom
More recently, the regime has misjudged the target audience for these threatening messages. Unlike past decades, the intellectual and artistic elite are not at the forefront of the Iranian revolution that can be pushed back with these inhumane methods and cruel murders.
Society has both material and spiritual needs, but the government has been unable to fulfil them due to its continual unwillingness to adapt to modern science in a 21st-century, globalising world. Demands have evolved over the generations and so too have the attitudes of the people. The government tends to provide outdated responses to new questions raised by citizens and lacks solutions for their civic demands.
Unfortunately, the regime and internal governance are still mired in the same dogmatic and fanatical ideologies of the past few decades and have not benefited from the blessings of the change and maturity that other nations have benefitted from. Corruption and inefficiency within the government continue to escalate, as a result.
The responsibility for representing the demands of Iranian society now falls upon the younger generation; a generation that is neither limited in potential, nor few in numbers. The totalitarian regime’s enemy is not an individual or a specific social class that will be silenced by such murders!
The enemy of the tyrant Supreme Leader is a new idea that has come into existence. It is very clear that this social wisdom cannot be intimidated and pushed back with force. Notably, this time, the Supreme Leader entrusted the role that Saeed Emami once held to members of the Fatemiyoun Corps, an overseas branch of the Quds Corps. This choice may reflect an attempt to exploit tensions between Iran and its historical neighbour, Afghanistan, for the regime’s gain.
The brutal murder of Mehrjui and his wife is only a reminder of the brutality of a helpless regime that has no solution in its pocket except blind violence when confronted with civil demands. The regime is in dire straits both internationally and economically. A government that has persistently approached modern issues from a primitive standpoint can no longer find solace in violence and bloodshed, oppression, and terrorism as the answers to its incurable pain.
Mullahs themselves have sensed the fall of the regime before anyone.
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