What does the Islamic Republic do to the people on Arbaeen this year?

Suheila.sh FCNN News Agency: Arbaeen is approaching. Coinciding with November 8 of this year and these days, the memory of the sacrifice of more than a hundred of our compatriots in the Arbaeen unrest in Iraq last year has been revived.

Officials from the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization and an institution called the Supreme Leader's Baath Party occupy pulpits and loudspeakers and shout, in order to put another group of our compatriots at risk by sensationalizing religious sectarian Shiites and inciting extremist beliefs.

Iraq is in turmoil these days. The latest news from this war-torn country shows hundreds of armored vehicles of the Iraqi security forces advancing towards Kirkuk. It is said that the Iraqi government has taken this action with the aim of taking control of the K1 air base and oil wells controlled by the Kurdish Peshmerga forces. Whatever the goal, an escalation of unrest in Iraq is not far off.

In these circumstances, however, Arbaeen travel enthusiasts on social media are only criticizing the rising costs of travel and emphasizing that the current government officials have placed an additional financial burden on Arbaeen travelers in order to generate revenue.

Part of this criticism also relates to the issue of why Arbaeen travelers are not receiving financial support and why no funds have been poured into this journey from the empty government treasury.

It seems that the lack of life safety in Iraq is not a big deal. Of course, there is no expectation from government officials in the Islamic Republic, but it is surprising that extremist Shiites do not value their own lives and those of their loved ones. Especially since in the photos left from Arbaeen in previous years, we saw some parents taking their children with them and participating in the Arbaeen walk in strollers.

Government officials are winning the game of public emotions.

To delve deeper into this matter, we will listen to the words of several of our compatriots in an interview with FCNN:

Iman is a sociology student. He says, “There are still some religious people among the 80 million population of Iran. The authorities of the Islamic Republic know very well how to use the extreme and superficial beliefs of these people to benefit their own policies. You see what tricks the majority of people use to vote in the presidential elections, even though many of them do not want the survival of this regime. In such a society, it is not difficult to attract the attention of Shiites who love the Imams to a journey like Arbaeen. It is enough to repeat a few hadiths and narrations during Friday prayers and say that whoever visits the grave of the third Imam goes straight to heaven. In the meantime, the Arbaeen travelers spend money from their own pockets so that the Iraqi side can earn money and the Iranian authorities can also benefit politically.”

A middle-aged professor who does not want to be named judges the Arbaeen ceremony from a different perspective. He says, “Last year, we witnessed the death of eleven of our compatriots in a bomb explosion in Samarra before the Arbaeen ceremony.

In the second incident, in the "Shumli" area of ​​the city of "Hilla" located south of Baghdad, more than 60 Iranians lost their lives. While the buses carrying them were stopped at a gas station, a bomb exploded and burned five buses. The intensity of the fire was such that many of the bodies could not be identified, but it was clear from the Iranian passports left at the scene that most of the dead were Iranians. Unfortunately, in none of these incidents did the Islamic Republic's officials refuse to provide accurate information. For example, it was not clear at all what age the victims were. Perhaps there were children or elderly people among them who were victims of the political goals and profiteering of the leaders of the Islamic Republic.

Devaluing the lives of Arbaeen travelers 

Comparing the number of 2.1 million Arbaeen pilgrims last year with 1.6 million the year before shows the success of the Islamic Republic authorities in arousing popular sentiment. On the other hand, their statements prove that the leaders of this government do not value the security and preservation of the lives of Iran's human capital.

For example, in an interview two days ago, the Director General of the Shrines of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization simply said this to recall these bitter events: “Last year, 70 pilgrims suffered problems during some traffic or terrorist accidents.”

Of course, we should not forget how these same officials sent Arbaeen travelers away last year with promises of security.

To the extent that Akhund Mohammad Saeedi, the custodian of the Fatima Masoumeh shrine in Qom, said: “The existence of complete security for Hussain pilgrims during Arbaeen indicates that the hand of God and the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) are our support and guide in this area.” We have also seen the result of this complete security in the explosions. This is while this year, the authorities of the Islamic Republic have thrown the ball in the court of Arbaeen travelers.

Hossein Zolfaghari, the current head of the Arbaeen Central Headquarters, is the Deputy Minister of Interior for Security. In this way, it can be said that Arbaeen travelers entrust their lives to an Iranian security official to travel to a country at war. This is despite the fact that this senior security official announced last week: “The security of pilgrims in Iran is our responsibility, but in Iraq, the government of this country is responsible for ensuring the security of pilgrims.”

Advertising slogans are the weapons of the authorities.

Last year, Arbaeen travelers set off for Iraq with the slogan chosen by officials: "I will never stop supporting my religion" (I will never stop supporting my religion).

This year's slogan has been chosen as "He who loves Allah, loves Hussein." According to Akhund Hamid Ahmadi, the cultural and educational director of the Leader's Mission and head of the cultural and educational committee of the Arbaeen headquarters, this slogan was chosen from 31 proposed slogans. He emphasized that in order to achieve this goal, consultations were held with cultural officials in Iran and Iraq, some cultural elites in other countries, specialized committees, and prominent figures.

This is while these days, many thinkers and patriotic and peace-loving Iranians are concerned about the outbreak of conflict in Kurdistan, and this is a reality that, like the presence of ISIS forces last year, remains out of the sight of the leaders of the Islamic Republic in order to achieve their goals.

There is no doubt that cultural poverty and the institutionalization of false religious beliefs are also helping the authorities of this regime in such programs. May we, with strength from God, take steps to inform and raise public awareness, and witness the diminishing results of the Islamic Republic's efforts in these areas and the diminishing presence of human capital in these programs.