Supporting an uprising in Iran

From The Washington Post:

Five days of street protests in cities across Iran have underlined the fundamental weakness of a regime sometimes portrayed as a regional juggernaut. Protests that began in one city over rising food prices quickly mushroomed into a nationwide uprising directed squarely at the rule of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The new unrest so far differs considerably from that of 2009 in ways that probably advantage the regime. It lacks leaders or a clear agenda; the “Green Movement” grew out of protests following a presidential election that united liberal forces. The current demonstrations started in provincial city Mashhad and may have been initially encouraged by conservative forces opposed to the government of President Hassan Rouhani. While they spread to dozens of small cities and towns, Tehran, the centre of the 2009 movement, appears to have been less galvanized.

This uprising also appears to be more violent. Authorities and independent observers have reported attacks on government facilities and even military bases in some cities; a dozen people were reported killed as of Monday.

That could give the regime a pretext for a bloody crackdown, using the Revolutionary Guard Corps or the Shiite militia forces it has marshaled for wars in Iraq and Syria.

So far the guards appear to be waiting on the sidelines while Rouhani, a relative moderate in the complex Iranian political system, offers conciliatory messages.