<
https://theconversation.com/this-is-the-playbook-the-iranian-regime-uses-to-crack-down-on-protests-but-will-it-work-this-time-273215>
"In late December, Tehran’s bazaar merchants began protesting against Iran’s
theocratic rulers over the sharp collapse of the currency.
These protests quickly spread nationwide, although the level of participation
remained limited, initially. The situation changed when Reza Pahlavi, the
exiled son of Iran’s former shah, issued a public call for demonstrations last
Thursday and Friday.
This altered the dynamics of the protest movement. The authorities appeared not
to take Pahlavi’s call seriously, suggesting they did not believe the US-based
Pahlavi had significant influence among the population. State media openly
mocked the call.
Yet, Pahlavi’s message spread rapidly online. His video on Instagram has
received more than 90 million views and nearly 500,000 comments as of January
13. These are unprecedented figures for any Persian content on social media.
Huge crowds then took to the streets, reportedly spreading to all of Iran’s 31
provinces, with many chanting for Pahlavi’s return to the country.
This marked the first time since the 1979 Iranian revolution that a political
figure issued a protest call explicitly framed around regime change and people
responded at scale.
In 2009, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who lost a contested presidential election to
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, mobilised large protests that became known as the Green
Movement, but these largely called for reforms rather than regime change.
Other protest movements in Iran, including those in 2017–18, 2019–20 and 2022,
were social media-driven and largely leaderless. This time, the protests have
combined online tools with clear leadership, making the potential reach and
overall impact of the movement even greater."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
