What has shaken the government, and indeed threatens the existence of the ruling Islamic ideology, is the pressure of the Iranian people for human and political rights. Hossein Saffar Harandi, a former minister of culture and Islamic guidance, expressed this fear when he said that “citizens who want the government to be accountable before the people (are) part of a soft war against the Islamic Republic.”
而真正撼动了政府，并对伊斯兰神权统治意识形态构成了实质性威胁的，则是伊朗人民追求人权和政治权利的压力。对此文化和伊斯兰指导部前部长侯赛因·萨法尔·哈兰迪则表达了这种恐惧，他说：“这是一场针对伊斯兰共和国的‘软战争’，而那些希望拥有一个负责任政府的公民们就是战争的一部分。”