Iran's government has spent months violently cracking down on protests gripping the country. Now it has started hanging people in public — an approach some see as a desperate attempt to terrify demonstrators into silence.
of people arrested over the monthslong protests prompted an outcry from Western governments and human rights activists, but they came as little surprise to those involved in the demonstrations or carefully watching them from afar.
“The regime knows it is fighting for its life,” said Abbas Milani, the director of an Iranian studies program at Stanford University. In the past, the regime has been “busy simply containing” demonstrators, he added. “Now they need to put the fear in people’s hearts again.” A photograph of Majid Reza Rahnavard placed among candles during a demonstration in Berlin on Dec. 12.Some protesters feel that the regime may also be using executions as a way to shore up its own supporters, and reduce the risk of dissent in its ranks by showing it will deal severely with alleged crimes against members of the security forces and pro-government militia.
The executions have been met with a range of emotions among Iranians at home and abroad. “My sense is one of shock, resignation and enhanced determination,” Ansari said.
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