One ‘spark’ could reignite protests, warns Iran’s interior minister

In separate interviews with leading Iranian newspapers, Iranian Interior Minister Abdul Reza Rahmani Fazli discussed the findings of an Interior Ministry report warning that the grievances that led to the nationwide protests in December and January could once again cause unrest in the country.

In an interview with Hamshahri newspaper, Rahmani Fazli said there are two groups of factors that led to the largest protests in Iran since the 2009 election protests. Rahmani Fazli said the first group of factors involved “social, political and economic discontent.” He said it could take just “one spark to inflame” the situation with this level of unhappiness in the country.

Rahmani Fazli also pointed to three deeper elements as the second set of factors for the protests. He labeled this second group “societal transformations.” Rahmani Fazli pointed to “generational changes,” saying that “39 years have passed since the revolution, and over time, ideologies, beliefs, thoughts and preferences have gone under fundamental changes.” He said this general change has been ignored, but that most people could witness such changes in their homes with their own children.

He said the second factor in this societal transformation group is a change in the “lifestyle” of Iranians. He added that this lifestyle change included preferences in “recreation, literature, discourse, relationships and clothing.” Rahmani-Fazli pointed to influences outside the country as having an impact on these changes. He said the public, at because of its exposure to the outside world, couldn’t easily be swayed on these preferences by official statements. Paraphrasing a speech by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei discussing social change, Rahmani Fazli said Iranian officials face “failure if they are not able to keep up with social changes.”