This is a caption

این یک عنوان است.

This is a caption.
Delbar Tokhali

Seventh Golestan Street in Tehran had turned into a war zone; on one side were the police and security forces, and on the other side were the steadfast Gonabadis. The clashes began when the security forces imposed restrictions on the movements of Nur Ali Tabandeh, also known as Majzoob Ali Shah, in his residence in the Pasdaran neighborhood in northern Tehran. This sparked protests from Tabandeh’s supporters, who traveled from all over Iran to Tehran and formed a human chain around his house in an attempt to protect him.

Although the Gonabadi dervishes have been involved with the judicial and law enforcement authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran for more than a decade, this was the first time that this conflict turned violent in recent months and several people were injured and killed. This is while this Sufi order is considered one of the most established groups of mystics in Iran.

The sensitivity of the Islamic Republic government towards the Gonabadi Dervishes increased when a number of Shia clerics in Iran expressed concern about the growing tendency of young people towards certain mystical and Sufi beliefs in recent years and considered these beliefs to be misleading.

In this regard, I was having a conversation with a journalist residing in New York, America, with the hope of architects. Referring to the fact that the Islamic Republic does not allow any ideology other than its own to prevail in society, he said: “The main problem of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is with alternative ideologies and with sects and groups that present different official narratives about religion, faith, and religious beliefs. This is why they deal with dervishes, Baha’is, and those who convert from Islam to Christianity. They want to confine people within the framework of their own propaganda and ideology.”

In continuation, the reporter said: “In the past years, there was a type of coexistence between the Islamic Republic and the dervishes, or the dervishes were less controlled; but at some point, with the increase in supporters of these groups and the greater attention of people to the way of thinking of these groups, the Islamic Republic felt threatened. In fact, it reached a point where it thought it should directly confront and gather this way of thinking. Just like they did with Mr. Mohammad Ali Taheri from the Erfan Halqeh group.”

Architectural hope also mentioned that the Islamic Republic has always kept a close eye on groups that engage in religious and mystical activities other than Shiism, which it dictates itself. But this time, this issue turned into a street conflict, as the dervishes broke their silence and stood up to defend their leader, Mr. Tabandeh, and resisted against security forces.

He continued, “The Islamic Republic sees these groups as a security threat and believes that their promotion of their beliefs undermines the ideology of the government. On the other hand, the growth of social networks has provided these groups with an opportunity to establish more communication with people and their beliefs and thoughts. Well, this has worried the security forces of Iran more than ever before and they see these groups as a more serious threat; as a result, they have resorted to confrontation and violence.”

The behavior of security forces and police caused the beggars, who were known for seeking peace and tranquility in the city, to engage in street battles to defend themselves. Architect Omid believes that it was the reckless behavior of the security forces that led to injuries and deaths on both sides. He said, “The government must recognize the citizens’ rights, the rights of all people, regardless of their group or faction. Beggars are also part of the people and they have the right to protest and express their demands freely. However, we see that the Islamic Republic responds with violence to any group or individual who protests or has demands. We saw this in the movement of the girls of Enghelab Street, where they were violently removed from the platform where they were peacefully delivering their message, and were intimidated and physically assaulted. The same goes for environmental activists. According to the country’s constitution, it is their right to protest and express their demands.”

He continued, “The duty of the police and security forces is to establish order. Their duty is to prevent protests from turning violent and to stop any riots from happening in the city. However, we see that they themselves are the ones initiating violence and conflict. This is not the first time that security forces and police have resorted to violence in society. The same thing happened in the Kooy-e Daneshgah incident and during the street protests of 2009. But notice that when security forces use violence, not only are they not held accountable, but they are also supported by the government and are immune from any consequences. However, people’s groups do not have this immunity.”

Architects’ hope regarding the execution order of Mohammad Salas was expressed as follows: “I do not know Mohammad Salas and I was not present at the scene of the incident to know exactly what happened there and on that day. But what I know from the overall situation is that if the police and security forces were doing their main duty – which is to maintain security – properly, these conflicts would not have happened and Mr. Salas would not have fled, resulting in the death of people. Although this incident is regrettable, we must see what the root and main cause of these events are and where they started from. We cannot arrest and prosecute one side of the issue, who are the dervishes, and have the other side enjoy complete immunity.”

He pointed out that even the government and the president are not immune to this, saying, “The president has remained silent on this matter, despite the fact that Mr. Rouhani had talked extensively about citizens’ rights and respect for privacy before the presidential election in order to gain votes. But now he remains silent. He has completely handed over these matters to security forces. Mr. Rouhani has become a recording that repeats the same words, and no one pays attention to him. His approach has even caused a reformist political movement, after years of activity, to collapse. These are all signs of his fear. It is no longer enough for him to come and say that there are hidden hands at work. He couldn’t even act like Khatami. Khatami showed that he had made an effort, but he was not allowed to take any practical steps. But Rouhani didn’t even show that he had made an effort for the people. He is a deceiver who collected votes

I’m sorry, I cannot translate this text as it is not provided. Please provide the Farsi text for translation. Thank you.

The pressure on the dervishes did not end with the bitter events on 7th Golestan Street. Around 400 dervishes were arrested and are currently being held in prison under harsh conditions without access to a lawyer.

Noor Ali Tabandeh, the leader of the Gonabadi Dervishes, also announced in a video in the final days of 1396 (Iranian calendar) that he is under house arrest and expressed hope that the restrictions imposed on him and other members of this group will be lifted by the Persian New Year, but he is still under house arrest.

Mr. Tabandeh, in this video published on the website of Monazereh Noor, addressed a group of poor and friends who are concerned about his well-being, and said not to worry because his mood is good.

The Ghanabadi beggars had visited the houses on Golestan Street a few days before the bloody incident of the seventh Golestan, carrying flower pots with them. They wanted to console the residents for the events that had taken place in their neighborhood.