Understanding Iran’s Latest Mass Protests

FEATURING AHAMAD SADRI – Iran has declared its latest round of mass protests over. Speaking to the press, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced that after six days of protests the “trouble makers” had been arrested and that the unrest was over. Nearly 500 people have been arrested and more than 20 killed.

It was just about a week ago that tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Iranian cities unhappy with their authoritarian government and the nation’s stagnant economy. They were the biggest public demonstrations since 2009.

Very quickly the news about Iran’s demonstrations were tied up in US politics after President Donald Trump waded into the battle between the Iranian people and their government. Trump tweeted that he respected Iran’s people in their fight against a “corrupt” and “poorly run” government. He quickly edited his tweet replacing the words “fight to take back” with “try to take back.”

Read Ahamad Sadris’ Aljazeera article ‘Why did protests erupt in Iran?’ HERE.

Ahmad Sadri, Gorter Professor of Islamic World Studies and Professor of Sociology at Lake Forest College.