"The immediate spark for the protests was a sharp decline in the value of the Iranian currency. At one point last week, a U.S. dollar traded for almost 1.5 million rials, having lost more than half its value in a year. As recently as 2021, a dollar cost around 250,000 rials and, only a decade ago, around 30,000. This continuous decline has slashed savings, destroyed the Iranian middle class, and inflicted real suffering on the working classes."
"Like previous waves of demonstrations, the protests have quickly acquired a political character. Protesters have chanted, "Death to the dictator," targeting the octogenarian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has held the top post since 1989 with little accountability. As a statement read out by students at Tehran's Beheshti University put it: "This criminal system has taken our future hostage for 47 years. It won't be changed with reform or with false promises.""
Iranians staged widespread protests in December after the rial plunged, with a dollar trading near 1.5 million rials after losing more than half its value in a year. The collapse from about 250,000 rials in 2021 and roughly 30,000 a decade ago erased savings, gutted the middle class, and deepened working-class hardship. Protests began among merchants importing electrical goods and rapidly spread to cities including Hamedan, Isfahan, and Lorestan, drawing students, pensioners, and Gen Z. Demonstrations adopted political slogans targeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. President Masoud Pezeshkian has overseen electricity and water cuts while failing to deliver promised internet liberalization.
Read at The Atlantic
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]