Factually, Iranian authorities resort to this “evidence” and publish it in media outlets to intimidate the society and prevent popular protests. Therefore, the priority of executioners and torturers is to abase detainees rather than getting information.

The truth is, the regime’s authorities convict detainees before arresting them. On November 22, following a week of anti-regime protest across Iran, Tehran’s Friday prayer imam Ahmad Khatami bluntly judged the protesters in his lecture, “As we dealt with the [Mojahedin-e Khalq] in the 1980s, we should pursue them home by home… These are Mohareb [enemy of God]. And must be faced with the most severe punishment.”

Since 1979, the Iranian people frequently see these forced confessions in state-run television. In fact, the regime has been challenged by the people over these 40 years. But the mullahs’ response has always been an iron fist. They dispatch the oppressive apparatus to arbitrary arrest people. Then, the judiciary gets the confessions from some of them under torture or by giving them hollow promises. Next, the regime’s propaganda brands them as a victory and publishes them in the various state-run channels. And finally, the regime punishes these folks based on these forced confessions, sometimes by the death penalty.

The reality is the Iranian regime pursues to achieve two targets through forced confessions. First, since the majority of society does not believe in officials’ claims, they try to insinuate the people by these TV shows. Second, authorities would like to break the spirit of the protesters in parallel to brutally cracking down on them. In this regard, the state-run TV channels ironically describe these people as the ringleaders of protests.

However, it should be considered if the regime could quell the protests and control the situation as many of its officials claim, then why does it promote such videos that immediately draw international condemnations? Factually, despite authorities’ claims about normalizing the situation, the Iranian society passed a turning point in its confrontation with the religious fascism. The truth is if the regime succeeded to halt the protests it should restore the people’s communications on mobile internet. Or the regime should cancel the emergency situation and retreat military forces to their bases beyond the cities. But as always, the mullahs boast alone to persuade the people that the regime is stable. However, the rapid expansion of protests in 180 cities across the country well proved the Iranian regime not only lacks stability but is on the brink of downfall.