Mr. Rasoul addressing Raisi: Where are you?
Rasoul Khadem, the former president of Iran’s Wrestling Federation, criticized Ebrahim Raisi on Instagram for standing by during the protests and leaving everything to the security sector.
Mr. Khadem, who frequently comments on Iranian societal issues on his Instagram, wrote in his new post referring to the people’s protests: Mr. President, you seem to be absent for a few days. In fact, it would be better to ask where you actually are, meaning where do you stand in the story of the people’s protests that you and your government have so easily washed your hands of everything and handed over the people’s protests to the security sector, and that’s it.
A group of observers inside Iran, some of whom are close to the government, say that the violent suppression of protesters and the extreme stances of some officials and figures during the protests have led to polarization and a rift between the people and the government.