ISW: Anti-regime protests in Iran likely creating fractures among senior officials

The ongoing, anti-regime protests are likely creating fractures among senior regime officials within the Iranian security establishment. 

Regime officials and regime-affiliated actors alluded to disagreements over protest suppression tactics within the Iranian security apparatus on November 18, US-based think tank Insitute for the Study of War (ISW) said.

A Raisi administration official stated that the regime could expeditiously end unrest as soon as “the relevant authorities were willing” on November 18, suggesting divisions within the regime about how much violence security personnel should use to quell protesters.

A regime-affiliated cleric in a Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari town similarly stated that officials who lacked the courage to do “great things” should be removed from power and replaced by others more capable of implementing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s vision. Hardline editor Hossein Shariatmadari, who is reportedly a close confidante of the Supreme Leader, additionally advocated for greater use of force against protesters on November 18.

Researchers who analysed the Iranian press stressed that mass protests were recorded everywhere in Iran. The analysts noted that in the cities of Tabriz, Khoy, and Ardabil, where Azerbaijani Turks live compactly, mass protests and confrontations with law enforcement agencies are also noted.