The Sunday Times covers how the Iranian people are changing how they protest the regime, highlighting the efforts of one of the founders of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohsen Sazegara, who defected from the regime in 1988.According to the article, Sazegara claims the regime killed 178 people and arrested 4,000 following the June 12 “election” when the uprising hit its height. Here’s a summary of some of the tactics described in the piece:
“What I offer is non-violent tactics,” he said. “When they banned street protests, we told people to go to the roofs and shout ‘Allahu akbar’ [God is the greatest] or to drive along the streets at night, honking their horns. When they ban noise, we tell people to march in silent columns.”
He and others scour texts for methods used in revolutions in eastern Europe and Latin America and most recently Ukraine.
“When they stopped us writing slogans on the walls we started writing them on bank notes,” he said.
He estimates 80% of the currency is stamped with “Death to the dictator” or slogans in support of Mousavi.
…He tells people to boycott goods manufactured by factories belonging to the Revolutionary Guard and to hoard small change to make daily transactions impossible. They arrange to plug in kettles, irons and hairdryers simultaneously to try to crash the power grid. He also suggests so-called “white strikes” where workers go to factories but do nothing. “The objective is to paralyse the government,” he said.
Sazegara also says the opposition photographs members of the Basiji, finds their homes, and put pictures of those killed on their walls and even go to the schools of their children. He says these tactics are very effective. He also confirms that the Iranian Army is becoming less loyal to the regime, and that protestors have signs calling on them to support the people.
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