Protests have begun to spread in Iran as thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets to call for regime change. The deeply entrenched theocracy under the rule of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani has thus far shrugged off the protests, calling them illegal and warning of harsh reprisals. On Twitter, President Donald Trump had some warnings of his own:
Many reports of peaceful protests by Iranian citizens fed up with regime’s corruption & its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad. Iranian govt should respect their people’s rights, including right to express themselves. The world is watching! #IranProtests
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 30, 2017
On Thursday, protests broke out in Mashhad and other cities. Since then, protests and demonstrations have grown across the country. Owing to tight control of both social and traditional media, it’s hard to ascertain just how large the protests are.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran claims that protests have broken in at least 31 major cities and that “tens of thousands” of Iranians have taken to the streets. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, has stated:
“By denouncing both the dictatorship and Rouhani, the Iranian people clearly and loudly rejected the mullahs’ regime in its entirety. The Iranian people demand the overthrow of the ruling religious dictatorship. It is their right to topple this repressive regime. And I emphasize: regime change in Iran is within reach.”
Biggest Protests Since Green Movement?
It’s likely that the current wave of unrest marks the largest demonstrations since the 2009 Green Movement. During the 2009-10 Green Movement, thousands upon thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest the oppressive theocracy and an allegedly rigged election.
The protests were ultimately quelled, with at least 36 people killed and thousands arrested. The protests also set the stage for the election of President Hassan Rouhani, an establishment insider, but someone seen as more moderate than most of his theocractic peers.
Now, some protests are allegedly calling for “Death to Rouhani,” playing off the infamous “Death to America” chants that the government has occasionally stoked among the masses. President Rouhani promised economic prosperity and a more moderate government, but many now see him as a stooge for the theocracy itself.
While Rouhani has delivered some reforms, his overall achievements have fallen well short of what many Iranians expected.
Iran’s Economy Continues to Under Perform as Regime Ignores Needs of the People
Iran has vast oil and natural gas reserves, making it perhaps the world’s richest country in regards to natural resources. For years, the Iranian government plodded along under international sanctions and a lack of foreign investments, using the nation’s natural wealth to stay afloat. Much of the money never made it to the Iranian people.
The Iranian people have struggled with slow economic growth, rampant drug abuse, and crippling sanctions.
Instead, Iran continued to fund its vast military kleptocracy, the Hamas terrorist group, the embattled Syrian government, and various Shia rebel groups across the Middle East. The Iranian people, meanwhile, struggled with slow economic growth, rampant drug abuse, and crippling sanctions.
All the while, the Iranian government stoked sectarian violence, wasted money on nuclear research, and otherwise pilfered the nation’s natural wealth to pursue regime ambitions. While many sanctions have been lifted since President Obama signed the nuclear accords with Iran, the Iranian people have continued to suffer.
Ali Safavi, an official from the Washington Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, has stated, “While all social programs have been cut, Rouhani’s budget allocated 11 billion dollars for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the paramilitary Bassij. 70 percent of Iranian live below poverty line and people have been forced to sell their body parts to make ends meet. Many people sleep in graves because they cannot afford adequate housing.”
Such dire conditions go a long way in explaining the current unrest.
