Iranians Shatter a New York Times Myth
December 30, 2017
SOHRAB AHMARI
The people haven't closed ranks behind the regime.
So much for the New York Times theory that, thanks to Trumpian and Saudi bellicosity, the Iranian people have closed ranks behind their rulers. In November, the paper’s Tehran bureau chief, Thomas Erdbrink, devoted an extended feature to making this case, and it proved wildly popular with the pro-nuclear deal crowd in Washington.
“After years of cynicism, sneering or simply tuning out all things political,” wrote Erdbrink, “Iran’s urban middle classes have been swept up in a wave of nationalist fervor.” He went on: “Mr. Trump and the Saudis have helped the government achieve what years of repression could never accomplish: widespread public support for the hard-line view that the United States and Riyadh cannot be trusted.
Erdbrink’s argument echoed rhetoric from Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. Responding to October’s announcement of new U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Zarif tweeted : “Today, Iranians–boys, girls, men, women–are ALL IRGC.”
Or not.
This week, tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to register their anger, not at Donald Trump or the House of Saud, but at the mullahs and their security apparatus. It was economic grievances that initially ignited the protests in the northeastern city of Mashhad. But soon the uprising grew and spread to at least 18 cities nationwide. And the slogans shifted from joblessness and corruption to opposition to the Islamic Republic in toto . These included:
“ Death to [Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei !”
“ Death to Hezbollah !”
“ Not Gaza, Not Lebanon, Our Life Only for Iran !”
“ We Will Die to Get Our Iran Back !”
“ Clerics Out of Our Country !”
The outcome of the protests is hard to predict. So far, the movement is leaderless and appears to lack serious organization. The protesters face a regime that spends much of its energy and resources on ensuring its own survival and won’t hesitate to crack down viciously, as it did in 1999 and 2009. But whatever comes next, Iranians have already shattered one liberal myth: namely, that Donald Trump has revived the regime’s popularity at home.
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Iran protesters rally again despite warning of crackdown
LONDON (Reuters) - Anti-government protesters demonstrated in Iran on Sunday in defiance of a warning by authorities of a crackdown, extending for a fourth day one of the most audacious challenges to the clerical leadership since pro-reform unrest in 2009.
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Giving his first public reaction to the protests, President Hassan Rouhani appealed for calm, saying Iranians had the right to protest and criticize the authorities.
But he warned, according to official media: “The government will show no tolerance for those who damage public properties, violate public order and create unrest in the society.”
Tens of thousands of people have protested across the country since Thursday against the Islamic Republic’s government and clerical elite.
Police in the center of Tehran fired water cannons to try to disperse demonstrators, according to pictures on social media.
Demonstrations turned violent in Shahin Shahr in central Iran. Videos showed protesters attacking the police, turning over a car and setting it on fire. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the footage.
There were also reports of demonstrations in the western cities of Sanandaj and Kermanshah as well as Chabahar in the southeast and Ilam and Izeh in the southwest.
Demonstrators initially vented their anger over economic hardships and alleged corruption, but the protests took on a rare political dimension, with a growing number of people calling on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down.
Iranian security forces appear to have shown restraint to avoid an escalation of the crisis. Two people have been killed and hundreds arrested.
The protests were the biggest since unrest in 2009 that followed the disputed re-election of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Videos showed people in central Tehran chanting: “Down with the dictator!” in an apparent reference to Khamenei.
Protesters in Khorramabad in western Iran shouted: “Khamenei, shame on you, leave the country alone!”
The government said it would temporarily restrict access to the Telegram messaging app and Instagram, owned by Facebook Inc, state television said. There were also reports that mobile access to the internet was being blocked in some areas.
“Iran, the Number One State of Sponsored Terror with numerous violations of Human Rights occurring on an hourly basis, has now closed down the Internet so that peaceful demonstrators cannot communicate. Not good!” U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday.
The White House said in a statement later on Sunday that the Iranian people’s “voices deserve to be heard.”
“We encourage all parties to protect this fundamental right to peaceful expression and to avoid any actions that contribute to censorship,” the statement said.
BREAKING TABOO
An Iranian reached by telephone, who asked not to be named, said there was a heavy presence of police and security forces in the heart of the capital.
“I saw a few young men being arrested and put into police van. They don’t let anyone assemble,” he said.
A video showed a protester being arrested by police while a crowd shouted: “Police, go and arrest the thieves!” in the northwestern city of Khoy.
In the western town of Takestan, demonstrators set ablaze a Shi‘ite Muslim seminary and the offices of the local Friday prayers leader, state broadcaster IRIB’s website said. Police dispersed protesters, arresting some, ILNA news agency said.
Demonstrators also shouted: “Reza Shah, bless your soul.” Such calls are evidence of a deep level of anger and break a taboo. The king ruled Iran from 1925 to 1941 and his Pahlavi dynasty was overthrown in a revolution in 1979 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic’s first leader.
High prices, alleged corruption and mismanagement are fuelling the anger. Youth unemployment reached 28.8 percent this year.
Economic indexes have improved under Rouhani’s government and the economy is no longer in dire straits. But growth has been too slow for an overwhelmingly youthful population, far more interested in jobs and change than in the Islamist idealism and anti-Shah republicanism of the 1979 revolution.
The demonstrations are particularly troublesome for Rouhani’s government because he was elected on a promise to guarantee rights to freedom of expression and assembly.
His main achievement is a deal in 2015 with world powers that curbed Iran’s nuclear program in return for a lifting of most international sanctions. But it has yet to bring the economic benefits the government promised.
Ali Asghar Naserbakht, deputy governor of Tehran province, was quoted as saying by ILNA that 200 protesters had been arrested on Saturday.
‘CARRIED AWAY BY EMOTIONS’
Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said some of those arrested had confessed “they were carried away by emotions and set fire to mosques and public buildings”, adding they would face severe punishment.
“After giving thousands of martyrs for the Revolution, the nation will not return to dark era of Pahlavi rule,” he said.
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Let's hope the protesters are as successful as the protesters were years ago to overturn the Shah. I hope other countries who resent Iranian hegemony and terrorism funding will do what is necessary to help and encourage them.
Unfortunately I doubt they have much success Buzz. Understand I am only one voice with an opinion of my own. They allowed one power to take over their country many years ago and it was replaced with one power when the Shah was expelled. People don't realize it can happen anywhere. When one power gains absolute power by vote or force, everything changes. All the freedoms that people took for granted are eliminated in time after that.
The Statist, Liberals, Leftist or whatever you want to call them have been planning this for decades in this country. I don't mean the average person who claims to be Liberal. They are unaware of what's to come or even how they played a part in it. They run away from the places they came from to escape all the things they will carry with them where they settle down. There was an article up and maybe it wasn't a good article, but it was the truth and censorship stopped it dead in its tracks. 'Speak your mind' no longer exist on this site.
The state of Florida is about to fall. There are over 300,000 Puerto Ricans who have migrated after the hurricanes and expected to be over 500,000 by 2020. Most, if not all will be voting Democrat and there will not be another Republican President into the foreseeable future. These Statist will finally get to see why people have been warning them for so many years.
I too was shocked to see that article removed and thought it spoke the truth. We saw it happen to Detroit.
You speak from both sides of your mouth. Liberals who don't know what they are... maybe you should learn to read tags. I didn't realize that New York was filled with people you should fear. How very American of you. And this site has rules. That article broke those rules, both the CoC and the TOS. And btw.. in case you didn't realize it, you are speaking your mind, although I find it what you say beyond faulty.
In case you didn't know it, we are not talking about Cubans but Americans. Puerto Ricans are Americans. So what you are bemoaning.. is a political agenda. And now liberals are stalinist? Are democrats stalinists? I'd like to inform my dad that he fought in Korea and Vietnam and was on the wrong side of the war.
Sheesh.
And to think Trump just had that million-dollar presidential helipad installed at Mar-a-Lago...you know...the place he has dubbed the 'Southern White House'. What a bummer!
That would be amazing.