Rohani is partially to blame. I mean realistically he didn't have any contingency plan for when the sanctions were imposed, but what about Khamenei ? Just look at how the Russian's responded to western sanctions. They had a thorough contingency plan and it worked. Iran's leadership did nothing, but placing all the blame on one person is not fair.
In 1979 1 USD = 7 Toman, today it's 40,000 Toman. 60% are living below the poverty line and inflation is at 50%. Criticize Pahlavi dynasty all you want, but from the beginning of their reign until the end, 54 years, the Rial fluctuated from 2 Toman to 7 Toman and in 1979 7 Toman was considered extremely high.
On the other hand look at the recent mass protests in China over the 3 year Covid lockdowns. That was the first widespread protest in decades. How did the Chinese government respond ? They gave people precisely what they wanted and got rid of all the Covid restrictions. In Iran how they did respond to young people protesting ? With violence and brutality.
The thing is, when you hurt/kill people, guess what, they have family, friends, they're human beings and whether its in China or Iran or Timbuktu, people will only tolerate so much before they respond to violence with violence. That's just common sense. And now the mullahs are basically labeling the protestors as "terrorists", which will only antagonize people even more. Using brutality and violence radicalizes people and labeling them, marginalizing them causes them to become even more disenfranchised with the system as a whole. Now Iran's rivals are taking advantage of the situation by sending truck loads of weapons and Starlink stations into the country. It's a recipe for disaster.
The thing is, that the government in Iran didn't even have to abolish the hejab or give in to all or every single demand. All they had to do was maybe meet some of the demands, meet people half way. For example, they could have conducted a proper investigation into the killing of Mahsa Amini, they could have lessened the power of the morality police so that they could only give out fines rather than dragging peoples wives or daughters by force to supposedly teach them about hejab. They could have even imposed some temporary measures, but no they chose to respond with brute force and we saw the end result.
I hate to say this but even the Saudis are 10x smarter than the mullahs, even with all their flaws. Just look at how MBS abolished the morality police in Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that there were no protests regarding this issue in Saudi Arabia. But why did he do it ? Because he knew that that majority of Saudis despised or disliked the morality police and so he got rid of it and he allowed women to drive for the first time. Did he give women total freedom ? no but he met people half way.
At the same time, the mullahs love to always blame the sanctions on the USA or Israel. But in reality, it's the mullahs who are burning American flags, chanting "death to America" and then they expect the Americans to embrace them with open arms when it comes to conducting trade/business ? What has Iran gained from these antics other than economic degradation over the years ? Like Obama said at the end of his presidency, "Chanting death to America doesn't create jobs for ordinary Iranians"
I mean just think about it, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and several other countries in the region support militant groups, just like Iran supports Hezbollah. Many of these militant groups actually have links to Al Qaeda. But unlike Iran they do things under the table. They don't attract negative attention and they don't allow their support of these militant groups to negatively effect their economy. Just look at China, America's number one rival, the biggest threat to American global hegemony and dominance, but also America's biggest trading partner.
I've said this before and I'll say it again. The United States has the worlds largest economy by far at $23 trillion. After the US, the European Union and China are pretty much tied at around $17 trillion each. For any country to be successful in this day and age, they must trade with all of these economic entities. Iran can get by economically just trading with China, Russia, some trade with India, etc The GDP may even grow in the low single digits, but Iran cannot flourish and prosper and truly live up to its full potential under these circumstances.
Anyways, the same sociologists who predicted mass protests in Iran months in advance are now predicting more problems in the near future. The protests have mostly died down but there are intermittent protests and tensions are still running high. Looking back at history, the constitutional revolution lasted from 1905 to 1911. so 6 years.
The mullahs are not in the clear yet and at this point they have to make a choice. They have to implement some reforms, crack down on corruption, they have to get really creative and figure out a way to turn things around. Otherwise if they remain stubborn and maintain the same failed policies then situation will continue to deteriorate and it could very well lead to an armed conflict.
actually the high income people participants were very little compered to middle and low income people
and calling them street whore is a little problematic . its nearly two month that the uprising have been ended and yet you guys blame economic situation that each day get worsening on it . wonder till when they are responsible for it and if they are responsible why change the head of central bank?
and you find the majority of the people who come to street gave martyr for protecting the country in that war .
the ones who didn't gave any martyr and send their children to foreign countries did not participate in the uprising
he probably burned himself to be the voice of mko and probably there were several people around ready with equipment to stop the fire as soon as possible , they already did that previously
