On a daily basis, protests have been spreading across Iran, with society airing their anger and frustrations aimed at the Iranian regime. Recent protests in Isfahan began with demands for social rights to be recognized, before turning into a politically-motivated rally. In recent days, Iran’s state-media have become aware of society’s ever-growing restiveness and issued warnings to the regime.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said, “The current wave of dissent across Iran is due to the years of the regime’s corruption, oppressing people, and mismanagement. As a result, economic and social problems have accumulated to the point of explosion.”
On December 2, the state-run Jahan-e Sanat daily explained that the economic situation has become majorly worse that it was in the mid-2000s due to mismanagement by regime officials, to the extent that even a large part of Iran’s middle class has become poor.
The week before, they wrote, “Since 2009, there have been many protests. These protests were either peaceful or violent. The social class involved in each protest differed from the other.”
The unwillingness of the regime to address the demands of the people will only worsen the situation. As Iranian society has become aware of the extent of the regime’s misdeeds, people from all walks of life across Iran are taking to the streets to protest, not only the socio-economic problems they are facing, but their disapproval of regime officials and leaders. Jahan-e Sanat warned, “This is dangerous if their demands are not fulfilled.”
They later acknowledged that as the regime is unlikely to address the demands of the people, it is certain that they will resort to further oppression.
The state-run Ebtekar daily wrote on November 28 that the economic and social pressures in Iran are completely unbearable. They said, “The increasing inflation, which is now over 50%, has affected people’s lives. More families become poor every day.”
The NCRI said, “While many commentators blame international sanctions as the reason for the Iranian people’s financial problems, state media acknowledged that people are suffering since the regime has been wasting national wealth on its malign activities.”
On Saturday, November 27, an expert affiliated with the Iranian government acknowledged that around $2 trillion of Iran’s wealth has been wasted by the regime on its nuclear programs. The state-run Arman daily wrote that ‘there is no economic justification’ for the regime’s decision to pursue a nuclear program in the first place.
The regime’s terrorist proxy group, Lebanon’s Hezbollah is heavily funded by the regime, as confirmed by their Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in 2016, who said “Hezbollah’s budget, everything it eats and drinks, its weapons, and rockets, comes from the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The United States Treasury Department, in a study published in 2018, estimated that the regime spends around $700 million annually funding the terrorist group.
The NCRI said, “The Iranian people are fully aware of the regime’s malign activities that have plagued their lives and country. Therefore, protests are spreading across Iran. The Iranian regime can no longer oppress these protests or deceive people. Once the regime oppresses a protest or an uprising, another unrest begins.”
