Popular protests, violent crackdown put Biden Iran policy to the test
(Worthy News) – It started two weeks ago as a small-scale demonstration over water shortages in a remote province, but like other Iranian protests in recent years, the outburst has spread to several major cities with large crowds calling for the downfall of the Iranian regime and chants of “Death to the dictator.”
What has been unfolding since mid-July looks increasingly like a repeat of what occurred in 2017, in 2018 and in 2019, when protests over economic hardship and high fuel prices ultimately exploded into wide-scale uprisings against the country’s authoritarian and theocratic regime before they were violently suppressed. With hard-line President-elect Ebrahim Raisi set to formally take office in days, the bigger question is whether the latest jolt of domestic popular anger will be strong enough to shake the foundations of the increasingly stressed Islamic system.
“The regime has to worry at this point because this is a confirmation of an ongoing trend in which seemingly nonpolitical issues very quickly serve as an opportunity for people to express distinctly political grievances, including outright anti-regime sentiment,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, a Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior fellow who focuses on Iran. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]
