Enough unrest has spread in Iran that the grandson of the Islamic cleric who founded the theocratic state of Iran in 1979 said that it is possible the Islamic government could fall.
Speaking at his grandfather’s former home in Tehran on Saturday, Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini, and who is also a cleric, said, “Continuous fragmentation of society; spreading hatred, grudge, hypocrisy, double standards and dishonesty is a bad sign for the government. … Nothing should be imposed on the people in the Iranian society.”
According to Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, Hassan Khomeini is “close to reformist critics of Iran’s leadership.”
Hassan Khomeini added, “If we see our principles have faded and we are sticking to rudimentary matters, this is an alarming sign that our society has problems.” According to Iran News Wire, which said Khomeini’s remarks were broadcast by the ISNA state-run news agency, Khomeini stated, “We must find the rules for human behavior and the causes of stability and collapse in order to live according to them. Otherwise there is no guarantee that we (regime) will stay and others will go. If you do not follow the rules, they will take the arena from you. … If you see that in a society, instead of paying attention to the principles of a society and the problems and the foundations of social relations, only appearances are addressed, this would lead to misfortune for governments. … Dividing the society constantly and spreading hatred and hypocrisy constantly, forces individuals into dual personality, pushing them away from honesty.”
He concluded, “We have to fear the day that positions collapse and roles change.”
Khomeini’s statements followed only two days after Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, blasted the government and President Hassan Rouhani, telling the daily newspaper Mostaghel (Independent) on Thursday, “It is likely that the physical decline of the regime also could happen … although the Islamic Republic is deep rooted, it owes its strength mainly to intimidation and terror.” Hashemi added, “Every group of people have some of their members in jail. … Many workers, teachers, truckers, women’s right activists, environmentalists, university students, economic activists and others are either in jail or have a verdict that would land them in jail at one point.”
RadioFarda reports, “Members of Khomeini and Hashemi-Rafsanjani’s families lost their official positions in various places including the Azad University after Rafsanjani’s death in January 2017. This could be a reason for their disgruntlement, although Ms. Hashemi has always been vocal against mismanagement and inefficiency even when she was Tehran’s leading MP in mid 1990s and was jailed for six months for taking part in protest demonstrations that followed the disputed presidential election in 2009.”
Mohammad Reza Tajik, an adviser to former reformist President Mohammad Khatami, told the Etemad Online website that the government was “Titanic in turbulent waters.” He said the problems were caused by “faulty structure of the ship, the performance of those who are steering it, the behavior of those on board, and the tempest that has created a whirlwind around the vessel … every group, individual and institution is alienated from its natural function.”