Even handing down death sentences to protesters does not appear to be dissuading Iranians from taking to the streets in defiance of the mullahs in Tehran.
What should worry the mullahs even more is that the protests are no longer just about Mahsa Amini. While her death in police custody remains a major catalyst for protests, other deaths and other events are also becoming inspirations for new demonstrations against Ayatollah Khameni and the Islamic Republic—and some reports show the government response becoming not just harsher, but frenzied and increasingly ill-disciplined.
On the anniversary of the 2019 uprising, state news agencies blamed terrorists on two motorcycles for the killing of seven people in a shopping centre in the southern city of Izeh Khuzesta. However, protesters said members of the Basij militia force ran amok, killing among others a nine-year-old boy sitting in a car with his father. State news agencies said two volunteer Basij patrolmen were among the dead, and 10 were injured.
Despite reports by human rights agency Harana of nearly 350 deaths, the protests not only appear not to be waning, but are both growing and intensifying, with even Iranian government sources starting to use the language of insurrection and rebellion.
They might just be right at that. If government forces are losing control over their own men, can the mullahs control over the Islamic Republic be that far behind?
Wouldn't it be great for them to get the government they are hoping for? Just like we wish we could have one.