Iran unrest followed simmering anger over inequality, excesses
TEHRAN, Iran — When the occasional Maserati roars through the crowded streets of Tehran, past crowded buses and shabby domestic sedans, pedestrians sometimes unleash streams of curses in its wake.
On the popular “Rich Kids of Tehran” Instagram account, 20-somethings flaunt $1,000 Hermes sandals and frolic poolside at lavish mansions in a capital where, perhaps in another part of town, the desperate hawk their own kidneys to feed their families.
Before Iran erupted in the most significant antigovernment protests seen here in nearly a decade, anger was simmering over the excesses of a privileged elite that profited from international sanctions, corruption and connections to an unelected theocracy.
Then members of the country’s two main political factions each tried to channel the public mood with a gamble.
Last month, announcing his latest frugal budget aimed at managing a yearslong economic slump, President Hassan Rouhani for the first time called on the government to publish the amount it spends on every institution. It was a clear reference to the many Islamic schools and foundations connected to the ruling theocracy that receive generous public funds with no oversight.
In the city of Mashhad, home to a $15 billion religious foundation that is Iran’s wealthiest, hard-line allies of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tried to undercut Rouhani by organizing a rally against his plans to raise gas prices and slash the monthly cash grants the government gives to citizens.
But the Dec. 28 rally quickly turned into a protest against the entire political class, spreading to dozens of cities as mainly working-class demonstrators set fire to government buildings and chanted both “Death to Rouhani” and “Death to the dictator.”
The ensuing week of unrest has left at least 21 dead and prompted a clampdown. The instability prompted the two political blocs that have jockeyed for power in Iran to close ranks to protect a system that has enriched them while millions struggle with unemployment, bankruptcy, rising prices and environmental degradation.
The U.N. Security Council is planning an emergency meeting about Iran on Friday, after the U.S. asked the world body to show support for Iran's anti-government protesters.
The hard-liners who see themselves as the guardians of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the Rouhani-backing reformists who seek gradual economic and social reforms have each acknowledged the people’s economic struggles. But neither has explained how it would address the demonstrators’ demands for reforms.
“The way the protests have unfolded has brought the two factions closer to each other,” said Ali Reza Nateghi, an activist from the reformist camp who campaigned for Rouhani. “Unity among reformists and hard-liners has increased because at the end of the day we are all in the same boat.”
Images of demonstrators tearing down photos of Khamenei were “a huge embarrassment for a regime that has spent billions over the last 40 years telling the world how legitimate they are,” said Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington.
On Thursday, Iran directly blamed a CIA official for the protests calling for the overthrow of the government. The Trump administration has denied having any hand in the protests, and the CIA declined to comment.
On Thursday, thousands again rallied in support of the government in dozens of towns and cities, including in Mashhad.