![\"photo_2022-09-25_08-17-19-e1664114255302\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/photo_2022-09-25_08-17-19-e1664114255302.jpg\" "\\"photo_2022-09-25_08-17-19-e1664114255302\\"")
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The current protests in Iran appear to be following a very familiar and very significant pattern. When they began on Saturday, they specifically served as a response to the killing of Mahsa Amini and the underlying suppression of women\u2019s rights<\/a>. The initial protests were also more or less confined to Iranian Kurdistan, where Amini was buried the day after being killed by \u201cmorality police\u201d on a visit to Tehran. But since then, demonstrations have spread to at least 100 cities, and in so doing, they have taken on a very broad political message, with participants once again signaling their demand for regime change with slogans like \u201cdeath to the dictator\u201d.<\/p>\n A number of reports in recent days have referred to the ongoing protests<\/a> as the largest and most broadly coordinated movement since the 2019 uprising and the protests afterward. The comparison is telling because those protests followed much the same pattern, with participants voicing grievances over the mismanagement of public resources before ultimately expressing the view that these and other problems can best be solved by removing Iran\u2019s theocratic dictatorship and establishing an altogether new system that actually represents the will of the people.<\/p>\n In fact, that pattern of transition from specific to generalized unrest dates back at least to the end of 2017, when flagging economic indicators prompted a major gathering in Iran\u2019s second-largest city of Mashhad, which in turn sparked further demonstrations in surrounding localities. By mid-January 2018<\/a>, that protest movement had encompassed well over 100 cities. In so doing, it also came to be defined by provocative, anti-government slogans, including \u201cdeath to the dictator\u201d. That same slogan is prominently featured in the ongoing protests over Amini\u2019s death. As well as condemning the regime\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the participants in this and other recent protests have also taken to chanting \u201cdeath to Raisi\u201d.<\/p>\n When Khamenei put forward Ebrahim Raisi as the only viable candidate for the June 2021 presidential election<\/a>, he did so with the expectation that his madcap sidekick would help to suppress further calls for regime change and expressions of anti-regime sentiment. That expectation was rooted in Raisi\u2019s prior role as one of four members of the Tehran \u201cdeath commission\u201d during the 1988 massacre of political prisoners, which had over 30,000 victims nationwide. The killings primarily targeted members and supporters of the leading pro-democracy opposition group, the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran<\/a> (MEK\/PMOI<\/a>), which Khamenei acknowledged as a driving force behind the 2018 uprising.<\/p>\n When addressing the issue of Iran, the main question is whether #Iran<\/a> is really on the brink of a revolution and whether the regime is on the verge of being overthrown? #WeCanAndMust<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/TKC9RjJDDv<\/a>pic.twitter.com\/aHGsO7SQh7<\/a><\/p>\n — Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) August 1, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n