The date we are writing today is November 16, 2020. Exactly one year ago, on such a day, the protests that had been going on for two days and now spread almost all over Iran entered a new phase. People in Sadeghieh set fire to Khamenei’s banners, Khomeini’s symbolic ring was set on fire in Shahriar, and students held protest rallies at the University of Tehran; On the campus, they shouted: “Reformist, fundamentalist, the whole thing is over!”, “The nation is begging, Agha (Supreme Leader) live like God”. Students with such slogans announced their solidarity with the protesters on the streets.
Bazaars in most cities are closed. Scattered news of mass arbitrary arrests and killings during violent clashes between protesters and repressive forces is circulating in cyberspace.
Great slaughter but is still on the way.
Ali Khamenei will hold emergency meetings tonight, according to a Reuters report which was published later, citing sources close to the Beyt (Khamenei’s residence). Khamenei is upset and angry to see his image in the fire. “That evening at his official residence in a fortified compound in central Tehran, Khamenei met with senior officials, including security aides, President Hassan Rouhani and members of his cabinet.,” Reuters reported. In this meeting, which was reported to Reuters through three sources close to Ali Khamenei’s inner circle, the 80-year-old leader, who always has the last word in all affairs of the country, raised his voice and criticized the way the unrest is dealt with. He was outraged by people burning his image and the destruction of the statue of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ruhollah Khomeini, and said:
“The Islamic Republic is in danger. Do whatever it takes to end it. You have my order!”
Reuters quoted its rapporteur as saying:
“Our Imam only answers to God. He cares about people and the Revolution. He was very firm and said those rioters should be crushed.”
The horrific dimensions of the crime committed by the Islamic Republic after this decree have not yet been clarified. No one still knows Khamenei’s mercenaries killed how many Iranians in those days. We know that after this order, the Internet was completely cut off and the country went into blackout. IRGC, Basij, plainclothes and law enforcement agents, behind closed doors, with heavy military weapons and advanced means of repression went to fight the defenseless and unarmed people of the streets, the barefeet and poor. They created a bloodbath. We do not know how many innocent young protesters, children and citizens were arrested and tortured in those days. But we know that on November 16,2019, a black spot appeared in the calendar that depicts irreversible point in the history of the Islamic Republic. From that point on, the days of the regime became days of decline and fall. And we, the people, all became overthrowers of the regime. There is no return for any of us: either Iran or the Islamic Republic! Only one of these two survives.