Trump leans into Iran protests, breaking from Obama’s overtures
Frustrated with economic hardships, citizens defy warning of crackdown
The Trump administration weighed in on a dramatic wave of protests gripping Iran this week with forceful rhetoric, warning the Islamist government that the world is watching its treatment of demonstrators three days after they began taking to the streets.
US President Donald Trump’s response – nearly one year into his presidency – has become a test of leadership and yet another point of comparison with his predecessor, former president Barack Obama, who in his own first year grappled with a similar moment of unrest in Iran, viewed to this day as a critical decision in his presidency.
At that time, in 2009, Obama had already made overtures to Iran’s supreme leader – the man who would decide the fate of the nation’s nuclear program, then the cause of a global crisis, and also the man at the center of protesters’ ire. Three days passed before Obama said that the Iranian people must be able to choose their leaders, and expressed concern over the treatment of demonstrators.
Three days of protests also passed before Trump offered his first comments. But this time they came in the form of tweets.
“Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever,” Trump wrote
on Saturday. On Sunday, he warned Iran against violating the human rights of its people.
“Big protests in Iran,” he said. “The people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism. Looks like they will not take it any longer.”
“The USA is watching very closely for human rights violations,” he added.
Anti-government protesters demonstrated in Iran on Sunday in defiance of a warning by the authorities of a tough crackdown, extending for a fourth day one of the most audacious challenges to the clerical leadership since pro-reform unrest in 2009.
Giving his first public reaction to the protests, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani appealed for calm, saying Iranians had the right to protest and criticize the authorities.
But according to official media, he warned: “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 unelected clerical elite and government.
Police in the center of Tehran fired water cannons to try to disperse demonstrators, according to pictures posted on social media.
Reports indicated that demonstrations turned violent in Shahin Shahr in central Iran, with videos showing protesters attacking the police, turning over a car and setting it on fire.
There were also reports of demonstrations in the cities of Sanandaj and Kermanshah in western Iran as well as in Chabahar in the southeast and Ilam and Izeh in the southwest.
Demonstrators initially vented their anger over economic hardships and alleged corruption but they 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 are the biggest since the unrest in 2009 following the disputed reelection 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 and Instagram messaging apps, state television quoted an informed source as saying.
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 a 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.
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 fueling the anger. Youth unemployment reached 28.8% this year.
Economic indexes have improved under Rouhani’s government and the economy is no longer in dire straits. However, 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.
Reuters contributed to this report. •