Protests over Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s government boiled over in major cities around Iran, demonstrating against poor economic conditions driving up basic food prices. But more than the 10% inflation rate, Iran’s youth reject the Ayatollah’s repressive regime, denying basic freedoms to ordinary Iranians. With the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khamenei ‘s 11-million strong Basij militia routinely beating and arresting men, women and children for disobeying strict Shiite laws, the public lives in fear in one of the most repressive governments on the planet. Considered the most widespread protests since 2009 when former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a controversial election, Iranian forces clashed with protesters. After lecturing President Donald Trump about his Dec. 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the protests embarrassed the Ayatollah
Pretending to be a democracy, Iran enjoys attacking the U.S. whenever possible, often pointing to racial unrest U.S. cities. “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. Iran govt. should respect their people’s rights, including the right to express themselves. The world is watching#IranProtests,” tweeted Trump, antagonizing Iranian officials. Trump decertified the July 14, 2015 Iranian Nuke Deal Oct. 13, tossing it back to Congress to re-certify the agreement. Iran has no love for Trump’s close relationship to Saudi Arabia, whose war in Yemen has morphed into a proxy war with Iran. Iran doesn’t want Trump calling it out on its foreign wars in Syria and Yemen. Street protests around Iran embarrass Ayatollah’s rule, exposing its egregious repressive practices.
No country likes to be called out by foreign governments but Iran’s vociferous role in criticizing the U.S. and Israel opens it up for added scrutiny. Instead of dealing with Iran’s domestic problems, including double-digit inflation and currency devaluation, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani prefers to rant about Israel, only yesterday saying the Iranian nation recognizes Jerusalem as Palestinians’ capital. Palestinians have no state or sovereign territory yet that doesn’t stop Rouhani from stirring the pot. Trump’s comments about the “world watching” puts the Ayatollah on notice that a brutal crackdown will expose the regime’s true character to all. “The people of Iran give no value and credit to Trump,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Baham Ghassemi. “The powerful people of Iran don’t waste their time with opportunist and meddlesome slogans from American officials.”
Iran’s strong response to Trump highlights the dilemma imposing repressive regime on the Iranian people, while, at the same, time dealing with legitimate grievances. Chanting “death to [current president Hassan] Rouhani,” protesters in Mashad, Iran’s second largest city, expressed grievances over rising egg and poultry prices. Protests in Tehran voiced concerns over government corruption, especially squandering the Iranian treasury on foreign wars in Syria and Yemen. Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency barely reported on the widespread anti-government protests. Reporting briefly on the protests today, Fars showed footage of counter-protesters backing the government. Counter-revolutionaries lauded the Shah, while blaming Rouhani’s government for driving the economy into the ground. More than economic woes, protests remind the world that not everyone’s happy in Ayatollah’s repressive regime.
Government officials are already warning protesters that there could be consequences to peaceful demonstrations. “There are other issues behind the scenes. The ones who have triggered these actions against the government must know that their actions will backfire on them,” said Eshaq Jahangiri, Vice President to Rouhani. Jahangiri said the protesters have other motives than economic concerns. “When a situation like this occurs the priority of the ruling system become the creation of a harsh security atmosphere,” said Mohammad Alin Abtahi, warning protesters of an impending crackdown, prompting Trump to say the “world is watching.” Trump’s remarks hope to keep the Ayatollah from giving a green light to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to squelch the protests. Since negotiating the Iran Nuke Deal July 14, 2015, Iran’s U.S.-educated Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif presents Iran in favorable light.
Iran finds itself caught between a-rock and a hard place, cracking down on peaceful protesters, ruining years of favorable public relations. Unable to tolerate much dissent, the Ayatollah blames the U.S. and Israel for any dissent in the Islamic Republic. Whatever the economic conditions in the country, the Ayatollah only sees positive progress since world powers lifted sanctions in 2015. Trump’s refusal to re-certify the July 14, 2015 Nuke Agreement has to do with more than illicit missile tests. Trump knows that North Korea opened up an embassy in Tehran Aug.6, suspected of sharing nuke and missile technology. When former President George W. Bush called Iraq, Iran and North Korea the “Axis of Evil” Jan. 29, 2002, it couldn’t be more prophetic. Letting Iran and North Korea share nuke and ballistic missile technology, Trump looks to stop the two in 2018.
