I’m personally not as optimistic about what’s going to happen as the quote below… The usual suspects (the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia) have been preparing for such an unrest in Iran for years, and they are probably salivating when they hear the death counts (most likely caused by their agents with the aim of blaming the government as it was the case in Daraa, Syria and Euro-meidan, Ukraine…). It’s not going to be easy for the government this time around unless they adapt..
The quote is, however, spot on about the racism towards Arabs , and the ignorance on how the world works… Iranians need to study history more and watch less of the BBC and Manoto …
Via Eisa Ali: “The Iranian protests are by and large centred around economic hardships, many linked to President Rouhani’s pursuit of neo liberal economic policies.
Cuts to subsidies can kill in countries where money is already tight. The West have essentially reneged on the Iran deal since Trump came along and illegal Western Sanctions have long been destructive.
The first and foremost responsibility of people in the West (progressive or not) is to pressure their own regimes to end the sanctions which have killed untold amounts of people. A friend’s father died in no small part because he couldn’t get cancer medicines. All of this is a combustible mix which has meant poor people have suffered the most. (Note the protests haven’t spread to the North Tehran elites who drove the 2009 protests – yet – as their interests are for the status quo to continue). The protests started in Mashad and were aimed at Rouhani only, but are being taken on by many groups with different agendas.
Many anti Iranian commenters online are getting excited by the slogans that *some* of the protesters are chanting against the govt and its leader Ayatollah Khamenie. These are the other, more organised part of these protests, coming from CIA backed orgs like the MEK terror group, which is using its network inside the country to foment unrest.
There are also slogans against Iranian policies abroad. Much of this is plays on racism against ‚lesser Arabs‘ yes, but also on the ignorance of some Iranians of how the world works. Iran’s policies in Iraq and Syria and elsewhere provide them with a strategic depth that ensures what happened during the 8-year war Saddam waged against them isn’t repeated. If the Syrian government had fallen Iran sooner or later would’ve been fighting Salafi Jihadists either at home or far closer than they would’ve wished. It’s not an accident. Israel, Saudi Arabia and the USA are desperate to somehow push back Iran from the wider region. Maybe they think these protests will work, it’s highly unlikely.
In any case there is almost zero threat to the Iranian govt here. Yes things can escalate and there are agent provocateurs from the usual suspects (CIA, Saudi, Mossad) actively trying to provoke it. But here’s why I think it’ll fail.
– The govt know that if they really want to they can bring millions of supporters out to protest on the street at the drop of a hat. They’ll wait and see how things develop before calling for the big protests.
– unlike in 2009 there’s no faction within the establishment itself which is willing to back the protests.
– as always the Iranian opposition is too divided. You have MEK, small nostalgia driven monarchists, those who want reform not revolution, those who support the conservative but are against rouhani, those who just wanna let off steam and smash some stuff up, communists, anti govt religious groups etc. They see eye to eye on almost nothing and lack a charismatic leader or the numbers of supporters really needed to achieve the fanciful goal of overthrowing the govt.
I could be wrong (lol as if) but if the Iranian revolution doesn’t celebrate its 40th anniversary in February 2019 I’ll eat my hat.“
Here is a noteworthy comment from Ray Hosseini on one of my posts on Iran.
„I spent the 90s, my teenage years and early 20s, fighting the Revolutionary Guards in the streets of Tehran. I was arrested a few times and spent many nights in military cells up in the mountains of Tehran during those years.. So don’t lecture me on what the Iranian government is and isn’t. Yes, the government has many problems. We don’t want corruption. We want secularism. It’s a government, and only Iranians in Iran have the right to decide what it is, and certainly not some biased foreigner like you. I was never a fan of the government, but don’t get me wrong, they have gained my respect for their fight in Syria. I know many people in Iran personally, young people, who volunteered to join the fight in Syria. Syria was the only country in the world who helped Iran when Saddam Invaded Iran with the West’s backing. Syria is also the last domino peace before Iran in the Western game of Imperialism and their greed for hegemony in the region. If Syria falls, the wars will come within the borders of Iran. That is why Iran is fighting there, and these protests are not about them at all. So, don’t quote a biased Israeli article on what’s going on with Iran, to an Iranian. If Iran was left alone by the likes of the US and the Zionist entity, there would have been no need for these wars in the neighbouring countries. Do you complain about the billions of dollars and UK pounds the world sends “Israel“ to maintain its expensive presence and occupation? If you don’t, and you only complain about Iran’s helping of Syria etc, then you are a hypocrite. Now back to the protests in Iran. Yes, Iranians have many valid reasons to protest for but the problem is that every time the Iranians tried to make a move for a change, or tried to choose their own paths, their efforts have been hijacked and sabotaged by the imperialist meddlers. Just look at the modern history of Iran. These countries fly over the skies of Iran like vultures for every opportunity they can get to destabilise it in order to defuse the big obstacle that Iran is to their regional hegemony and exploitation of resources. If Iran was left alone, people wouldn’t have as many problems as they are complaining today. If the Mideast was left alone, in fact, most countries in the region would have had modern, secular democracies leaning on socialism. Extremism was injected in the region to destroy these sovereign nations, and the current Iran you see, is a result of many decades of foreign meddling and hijacking of people’s efforts to improve their own lives. If you really sympathize with Iranian people, then you would raise your voice against all these foreign nations who “support the protests“ and against their imperialist agendas, and you would let the people of Iran decide what they want rather than forcing your own version of “freedom“ onto them. Perhaps the first step is for yourself to stop spreading propaganda. Good day.“
