QUICK FACTS

How did protests start?

the demonstrations began in mashhad. the city is a conservative bastion and a stronghold of ebrahim raisi, a cleric who unsuccessfully challenged president hassan rouhani in last year’s election. analysts suggest conservatives began the protests there as a means to pressure rouhani, a relatively moderate cleric within iran’s theocratic government.

What do they want?

demonstrators initially focused on flagging economy. despite now being able to sell oil on the international market after the 2015 nuclear deal, iran faces rising inflation and high unemployment. a recent increase in egg and poultry prices by as much as 40 per cent, which a government spokesman has blamed on a cull over avian flu fears, appears to have sparked the protests.

Who is leading them?

so far, no central leadership has emerged. that’s in contrast to the 2009 green movement demonstrations, which protested hard-line president mahmoud ahmadinejad’s re-election. those protests, iran’s biggest since 1979, prompted a crackdown by iran’s paramilitary revolutionary guard and its affiliates that saw thousands detained, dozens killed and others tortured.

What will happen next?

demonstrators have called for more protests in the days ahead. While rouhani has said the government allows demonstrations, all so far have been held without police permission, which is illegal. ultimately, the supreme leader will decide how to respond. as cliff kupchan at the eurasia group said: “When it comes to regime survival, khamenei calls the shots.” —