The rage and despair of the Iranian people is flowing onto the streets
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Protesters set fires as they block the roads during a demonstration against a gasoline price hike in Tehran in 2019. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The rage and despair of the Iranian people is flowing onto the streets
Washington Post- May 20th 2022
As anyone who follows Iranian affairs will tell you, one way to measure the seriousness of the uprisings against the Islamic republic is to consider anti-regime slogans — and how personal the protesters are willing to get with them. The fact that demonstrators on streets across Iran are currently calling for the death of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Ebrahim Raisi, and for the downfall of the Iranian regime, should leave no doubt about the depth of the protesters’ rage and despair.
The protests began last week over the regime’s increasing inability to provide the basic goods and services it has subsidized for decades, after prices of bread, eggs and cooking oil skyrocketed as much as 300 percent. Pasta, a low-cost staple of the Iranian diet, quadrupled in price overnight.
In the ensuing violent crackdown, at least five people have been killed and countless more arrested. Internet connectivity has been restricted or completely blocked in some areas, and state media is not allowed to cover news of street clashes. Still, images of brutality aimed at the most vulnerable, including the elderly, have spread around the world.
Are these the protests that will end in the regime’s downfall? No. At the same time, the regime has no remedy for the current set of complaints — which means they will continue, becoming even more frequent as public desperation grows.
Predictably, the regime used its propaganda networks to divert attention from the protests and even blame them on foreigners. But if the state is no longer able to buy people’s acquiescence, as it has throughout much of its 43-year history, there is very little else it can offer. It’s difficult to envision anything but mounting frustration for ordinary citizens.
Read more on the original:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/19/iran-protest-food-prices-rage-despair/
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