Iran’s Islamic Revolution anniversary marred by economic hardships, crackdowns

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iran marks the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution on Tuesday at a time of crippling economic sanctions and an escalation of government repression on dissent. 

Iranian state media says millions of people across 5,000 towns, cities, and districts are taking part in the commemoration of the 1979 revolution which overthrew the Pahlavi dynasty and founded the Islamic Republic under the theocratic leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

In the nation’s capital Tehran, crowds gathered at the city’s Azadi Square, where President Hassan Rouhani addressed the crowd.

Rouhani spoke under a giant image of Iraqi militia chief Abu Mahdi Muhandes and Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)’s extraterritorial Quds Force, both of whom were assassinated in a US drone strike on Baghdad earlier this year.

The Iranian president thanked the IRGC and other security forces for defending the revolution and urged all sides remain united. 

“Let’s not allow some to say this faction or that faction – our strategy is to stand together, to stand against America, this revolution is everyone’s revolution,” he said.

The anniversary comes a day after the IRGC failed to launch a new satellite into orbit. Iran regularly uses anniversaries to announce and display its armed forces technological advancements.

Iran says the new satellite was intended for scientific inquiry. The United States, however, has previously described Iran’s space program as a “provocation” and a cover for its ballistic missile program. 

Tuesday also marks forty days since Qasem Soleimani’s assassination, which further escalated tensions between Tehran and Washington. Days later, Iran launched retaliatory missile strikes against several Iraqi military bases hosting US troops.

Rouhani praised Soleimani’s abilities, both on the battlefield and as a negotiator. “The American Ain-al-Assad was bombed in Iraq because that was what people wanted, people wanted revenge” for the killing of Soleimani, he said.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, also used the occasion to condemn the assassination of Soleimani.

“By doing what he did, Trump proved to the whole world that he was wrong about the Iranian revolution for 41 years and this mistake is continuing today,” Zarif told the crowd in Tehran, state media reports. 

Zarif, who is expected to take part in the annual Munich Security Conference in the coming days, said he would discuss the dangers posed by American policies in the Middle East.

Relations between Washington and Tehran have rapidly deteriorated since US President Donald Trump withdrew from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran. The Iranian people have since faced tremendous hardships, including mass unemployment, inflation, currency devaluation, and shortages of essential medicines. 

This comes at a time of heightened public anger, marked by mass protests. In November, Iranians took to the streets to protest a massive hike in petrol prices and clashed with security forces. More than 300 people were killed in the resulting crackdown and thousands arrested, according to Amnesty International.

Hundreds of activists, lawyers, and journalists have been detained and sentenced to prison in recent months. Reporters Without Borders claims at least 21 media workers have been arrested and interrogated by the IRGC’s intelligence forces since December 8. 

Parliamentary elections are due to take place on February 21, which will be a test for Rouhani’s moderate, pro-reform faction against the more hardline elements surrounding the IRGC.

In Tuesday’s speech, Rouhani urged people to take their grievances with them when voting.

“We should not withdraw from the ballot boxes,” Rouhani said to the crowd gathered in Tehran on Tuesday, despite officials already having disqualified thousands from running. “The ballot boxes are our saviours.”