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NCRI Staff<\/p>\n
NCRI –\u00a0The unrest within the country has become the most important challenge the Iranian regime is facing. Over the past year there have been major protests over the economy, unemployment, and corruption, but no one was prepared for the spontaneous combustion that occurred on December 28 in Mashhad, Iran\u2019s second-largest city.<\/p>\n
Observers said that it was triggered by news that the government was unveiling a budget cutting that cut spending on social services, and increased spending on the military, as well as the spike in the cost of food and other essentials. For instance, according to the Central Bank of Iran, the cost of eggs rose 9 percent during the week of December 22, making them 54 percent more expensive than they had been a year earlier.<\/p>\n
The rest of the country soon joined in outrage expressed in Mashhad. Soon it took on a broader anti-government tone that targeted Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani. Chants of \u201cBread, work, freedom,\u201d turned into, \u201cYoung people are unemployed, and mullahs have all the positions,\u201d and, \u201cThe nation is destitute while the leader is acting like God,\u201d as well as, \u201cReformers, hardliners, the game is now over.\u201d<\/p>\n
More shockingly, the polite \u201cKhamenei, forgive us, but it is time for you to go,\u201d gave way to \u201cDeath to the dictator,\u201d and, \u201cDeath to Rouhani.\u201d Such chants are punishable by the death penalty in Iran.<\/p>\n
However, western media, such as New York Times, whose headline, \u201cScattered Protests Erupt in Iran over Economic Woes\u201d minimized the situation. German-based Iranian political analyst Adnan Tabatabai, insisted, \u201cThe protests are driven by socioeconomic grievances, not political aspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the protesters were criticizing the regime\u2019s adventurism abroad, with chants like, \u201cDeath to Hezbollah,\u201d and, \u201cLeave Syria alone, think about us instead,\u201d or, \u201cNever mind Palestine, think about us,\u201d as well as, \u201cForget about Gaza and Lebanon; I\u2019ll sacrifice my life for Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, the PBS Newshour\u2019s headline on January 3rd read, \u201cIn Iran, tight budget sparks nationwide protests,\u201d and the headline the Business Insider ran day before said, \u201cThe price of eggs in Iran went up 50%, and 21 people were killed in the protests that followed.\u201d<\/p>\n
While higher prices may have lit the spark, the economic downturn wasn\u2019t the only fuel for the protests. The slogans heard on the streets in 130 cities over the past week are more telling. The Iranian people are dissatisfied with the current regime.<\/p>\n
At the annual gathering of members and supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Paris in July, young activists who were jailed and tortured in Iran by Rouhani\u2019s regime, and had left the country, were interviewed. One, Arash Mohammadi, said that he was jailed three times for his efforts to help Iran\u2019s huge number of economically disadvantaged citizens. Speaking about his humanitarian work, Arash said, \u201cIt\u2019s 100 percent a danger as a threat to the regime because it\u2019ll become clear that for 38, 39 years, this government has done nothing for the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
An Iranian-American woman who read that the latest demonstrations in her native land were strictly about economic hardship said, \u201cRevolutions always erupt from the discontent of the masses over a period of time and are triggered by a single event. That single event can be a specific crackdown, it may be a price hike on the city buses, you get my point.\u201d Now, it\u2019s \u201cthe massive corruption and theft of the nation\u2019s wealth by the ayatollahs and the increasing material support of the international terrorist organizations. People are fed up,\u201d she said. \u201cThe trigger for this uprising is the mishandling of the $100 billion that Obama has given the ayatollahs. The chatter on the street ever since has been that that money will never be used for the ills and needs of the society and country, but instead will be used for once again expanding terrorism around the world and for the ayatollahs\u2019 personal private accounts. Which has been the case exactly.\u201d This woman left Iran at age 16, and lives with her mother live in Washington. They are not affiliated with any opposition group.<\/p>\n
European-based Shabnam, however, helps organize further demonstrations with people back home, as a member of the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (also called Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MEK). \u201cIt is true that the protests are based on the economic suffering of the people which has existed for many years under the mullahs\u2019 regime. But because constant hatred for the regime by the people always existed in Iran (due to the human rights violations and denial of basic freedoms), there was always an explosive atmosphere in Iran which was under the ashes. That\u2019s why the uprising quickly became political,\u201d she says. \u201cFrom my personal experience, I know that the people genuinely understand that the root of all the economic hardships that they have faced is the regime. The people have realized that they will not be able to live normal decent lives and the economic situation will not get better for as long as the mullahs are in power.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports, \u201cU.S. officials were surprised by the outbreak of the protests and how they have spread.\u201d The newspaper talked to one official who believes \u201cthe unrest is different from the protests in 2009 because the latest events are occurring outside Tehran and are fueled by working-class grievances that are economic in nature, not political\u201d and added \u201cthat the novelty of the protests is making it difficult for U.S. officials to predict where they will lead.\u201d<\/p>\n
The officials should talk to the Iranian opposition. \u201cThe anti-corruption demonstrations that expanded over the past year were a warning sign that Tehran ignored,\u201d says Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the Washington office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. \u201cWhat you see now is the accumulation of over three decades of repression and corruption that has now erupted. Dictators always miscalculate, as did the shah.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ali Safavi, also an official with the Washington office of NCRI, which acts as a parliament in exile, said, \u201ceven we are surprised by the pace and scope of the uprising,\u201d and adds, \u201cThe army of the unemployed, hungry, shantytown and grave dwellers, the futureless youths, and the impoverished, who have been stripped of all their rights and liberties, have now risen up to take back their nation from the corrupt and criminal mullahs.\u201d He predicted, \u201cThe day of reckoning is fast approaching.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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