For the past six days, Iran has been rocked by its most significant anti-government protests since a disputed presidential election in 2009.
Iran has been rocked by its most significant anti-government protests since a disputed presidential election in 2009. Here’s what it’s all about.
The unrest started Thursday as a protest over Iran’s beleaguered economy. Unemployment is high at 12% and the cost of basic necessities such as diary products has been spiraling. The protests have since widened to a more general expression of anger over alleged government corruption and discontent with Iran’s clerical rulers. There have been calls for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini to step aside.
The protests kicked off in the northeast city of Mashad when people took to the streets to convey their disappointment over President Hassan Rouhani’s failure to deliver on promised economic prosperity in the wake of a nuclear deal with world powers. As news of the protests spread on social media via Telegram and WhatsApp — widely used in Iran — protests erupted in other cities such as Isfahan and the capital Tehran.
Security services have used force and tear gas to disperse crowds. At least 20 people have died and 450 have been arrested nationwide, according to Iranian media. Tehran’s Revolutionary Court warned Tuesday that arrested protesters could potentially face the death penalty when they come to trial. Authorities have also tried to slow, and in some cases, block access to the Internet and ban some international calls. At the same time, Rouhani has struck a conciliatory tone and said that protesters have a right to be heard as long as they do so «according to the constitution.»
Without naming a specific country or organization, Khomeini accused Iran’s enemies on Tuesday of meddling in the recent protest rallies.
Since the protests started President Trump has taken to Twitter on multiple occasions to let Iran’s government know that he is watching closely. He has also expressed solidarity with the protesters and their poor economic prospects. Yet Trump has also tried to characterize the protests as a direct result of Iran’s foreign policy in the Middle East. «The people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism,» he said in one tweet.
Iran’s security forces ultimately crushed the 2009 Green Movement, when millions marched in protest over the disputed re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. So far, the scale of the protests this time is much smaller and it is not clear how much public dissent Iran’s government is willing to tolerate.
Trump is considering imposing new sanctions on those responsible for the crackdown on protesters, presidential aide Kellyanne Conway said Tuesday. That comes as he faces a congressional deadline this month on whether to certify that Iran is meeting the terms of the 2015 nuclear accord with the U. S. and other nations.
