Rouhani assails officials' 'vow of silence' to protests

TEHRAN — Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said yesterday that officials were failing to respond effectively to mounting popular protests, in part because they are being threatened by unnamed behind-thescenes forces.

Recent weeks have seen social media filled with videos and reports of protests, but since they are barely covered by domestic media and access is restricted for foreign journalists, they have been hard to verify.

They include protests by farmers over water shortages in Isfahan; by ethnic Arabs over the treatment of minorities in the southern province of Khuzestan; and over administrative reforms in the southwestern city of Kazeroon.

The videos appear to show these localized protests taking on broader slogans against the Islamic establishment, such as: "Our enemy is right here and falsely they say America is our enemy."

But in a wide-ranging speech carried on state television, Rouhani said officials were failing to respond and appeared to have taken "a vow of silence."

He told senior officials in Tehran: "As people haven't got enough information ... as people don't see plans for the future, as people see the current problems, they may get upset and angry, come to the streets and cry out. (But) we speak little to the people. Our government managers have taken a vow of silence. I don't know who told them to. I don't know what they are scared of."