The Iranian government鈥檚 crackdown on protesters is likely to 鈥渋ntensify鈥� in the coming days despite sanctions from Canada and international condemnation, an expert says, calling Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei鈥檚 blaming of foreign nationals for the unrest 鈥減redictable.鈥�
Iran has been the subject of protests for the past three weeks ever since the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being detained by Iran鈥檚 morality police. Protestors have been calling for greater freedoms and an end to the repression that binds women within the Islamic Republic.
On Monday, Canada officially imposed sanctions on 25 individuals and nine entities 鈥渋n relation to Iran鈥檚 gross and systematic violations of human rights鈥�, including the leader of Iran鈥檚 morality police.
Nader Hashemi, director of the Centre for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver, told 麻豆影视 Channel that while these sanctions are important, they鈥檙e unlikely to do much to quell the unrest.
鈥淎s far as I know, the head of Iran鈥檚 morality police didn鈥檛 have any plans to travel to Canada and he doesn鈥檛 have any known assets here, so the practical effect on affecting the lives of these repressive actors is quite limited,鈥� he said.
However, he praised the specific nature of Canada鈥檚 sanctions, pointing out that U.S. President Joe Biden鈥檚 statement Monday on the situation was vague. Biden announced that the perpetrators of violence would have further costs imposed on them, without specifics.
"The Canadian statement was actually much more precise and forward-looking 鈥� they actually named individuals who were responsible for repression in Iran and targeted them with sanctions,鈥� Hashemi said.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want broad-based sanctions which affect innocent people who are not responsible for the policies of the Islamic Republic.鈥�
The value of Canada鈥檚 sanctions is more symbolic, and Hashemi expects other countries to follow suit.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e symbolically very important for the protesters in Iran and also for Iranian-Canadians, who are also very upset over what鈥檚 happening back in their homeland,鈥� he said. Iran
He added that decision-makers in Canada should be listening to leaders on the ground in Iran for how they could take further steps to help in this situation.
Iran鈥檚 supreme leader issued his first public comments on the protests on Monday, calling them 鈥渞iots鈥� and blaming interference from the U.S. and Israel instead of addressing protesters鈥� criticisms of Iran鈥檚 policies.
鈥淭his is straight out of the authoritarian leader鈥檚 playbook, chapter three: when you have a big crisis, you blame foreign enemies, you never take responsibility,鈥� Hasemi said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a sign of panic, it鈥檚 a sign of desperation, and in fact it鈥檒l probably embolden the protesters, because the Supreme Leader, as was expected, did not take any responsibility for his own policies that have brought Iran to this point of crisis.
Hasemi expects the protests to continue, but cautioned that it鈥檚 unlikely the tide will turn in their favour any time soon.
鈥淭his is a very brutal regime, they鈥檙e not going to simply pack up and leave because of these protests, they鈥檙e going to crackdown very hard,鈥� he said.
鈥淎nd that remains to be seen how far the crackdown will go, and whether the protestors can resist the crackdown that鈥檚 currently underway but 鈥� I suspect 鈥� is going to intensify very quickly in the coming weeks and months.鈥�
