Protests Won’t Bring Down The Iranian Regime (No. 8)
The downfall of the Islamic Republic will be nasty, brutish, and likely long.
For more than 10 days Iranians across dozens of cities have been spilling out into the streets in another major round of protests, the biggest since the “women, life, freedom” movement that rocked the country beginning in September of 2022. The demonstrations this time were triggered by a currency devaluation that further pressured bazaar merchants, who were the first to take to the streets. They were followed by the students and the young, who generally grab any opportunity to show their opposition to a regime that is universally despised.
The protests have since spread to provincial cities, especially to ethnic minority towns of the country’s border areas and have begun to gather momentum in the big cities.
Iran has been rocked by waves of protests since 1999. Demands have included greater political freedoms and an end to the country’s economic stagnation and international isolations. The protests have become increasingly radical over the years. Calls for reform of the political system eventually gave way to demands for the downfall of the Islamic regime.
