Iranian Regime Shows Muscle To Confront 'Seditious'

• Asia Iran restricts internet to try to curb veil protests

• Iran The challenge of removing the veil

Friday is the day of congregation in Muslim temples.

In

it is customary for imams placed directly by the Supreme Leader's office to launch diatribes in defense of the Islamic Republic in the main mosques of each city.

After a week of

, elevated to a symbol of discontent by a notable section of Iranians, it was to be expected that the other party would summon its faithful to project an image of supremacy.

Hundreds of men and women

- most of them covered with black chadors - have marched through the center of Tehran and other cities of reference

.

This is what they have called the protesters, pointing to the portion of them that has participated in violent acts such as the burning of vehicles, official headquarters and attacks against agents, some of them lethal.

This Thursday in the middle of the afternoon, the Police have shown images of the alleged material seized from some protesters, among which there were machetes and firearms.

"Those who offended the Koran must be executed!"

, the crowd has demanded, as seen in one of the videos of the march, widely covered by the Iranian official media and which has passed through some of the stages of the demonstrations these days.

Other messages that have been heard were

, common in this type of act, and accusations of the demonstrators of being "soldiers of Israel".

To know more

The look of the correspondent.

Mahsa Amini, a new symbol of young Iranian women

• Drafting: LLUÍS MIQUEL HURTADOIstanbul

Mahsa Amini, a new symbol of young Iranian women

The look of the correspondent.

Middle East: living confined in the closet

• Drafting: LLUÍS MIQUEL HURTADOIstanbul

Middle East: living confined in the closet

These marches have drawn, above all, from pious people, hard-line government supporters, officials and individuals linked to the broad grassroots activist movements serving the system.

Such is the case of the Basijies, the paramilitary youth organization that these days participates in the repression of the protests and to which the protesters blame the most violent acts.

The state network has raised the

;

an Oslo-based NGO, IHR, to 31. According to various sources, the vast majority of

who had joined the protests.

Among the most recent victims is Hananeh Kia, a 23-year-old girl from Nowshahr in northern

who, according to her father, was shot while returning home from the dentist.

There is no official confirmation.

The display of official muscle on Friday is the result, in the eyes of most local observers, of a policy of polarization practiced by the government in recent years in order to shield its position.

Through its propaganda and policies, it has tried to drive a wedge between the humble and pious classes, traditional supporters of the Islamic Republic, and reformists, liberals, and secular-leaning people, usually from the middle and upper classes.

However, they point out, the death after being arrested for a "bad veil" of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish girl, from a conservative and apolitical family, has shaken the board.

"This is a revolt sparked by the generation of Mahsa Amini, who have lived most of their lives in a

," he said. noted in a trill the historian Roham Alvandi.

Despite this, in response to the challenge of the streets, the security apparatus has dusted off the same manual of action that it has followed in the face of previous protests.

Along with the imposing deployment of agents, the Intelligence Ministry issued a statement on Thursday in which it warned the

, that their "dream of defeating religious values ​​and the great achievements of the revolution will never be realized," according to the Asriran website.

It has been a continuation of the explicit prohibition, issued by the Government, to participate in "illegal meetings".

Its participants, he has warned, "will be prosecuted."

These threats are, for many Iranians, the prelude to a more virulent phase of response to the demonstrations.

, was planned

after participating in the UN general assembly.

Many believe that, once in the capital, the leader will order a harsher response.

Hours before landing, the Armed Forces have issued a statement putting themselves in the bond of the forces of order that are already acting in the streets.

"The desperate actions are part of a diabolical strategy of the enemy to weaken the Islamic regime," they stressed.

Consequently, they have advocated "confronting the various plots of the enemies to guarantee the security and peace of the people, unjustly assaulted."

This firm position is significant because, among opposition circles, the moment that definitively condemned the Shah in 1979 is evoked: the Imperial Air Force's declaration of allegiance to Khomeini.

between armed factions.

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

• USA

• Israel

• Iran

• Asia

• Religion

• Islam

• Violence