The economic boycott enforced by the United States against Iran is more restrictive than the embargoes enacted by Roosevelt that Japan saw as acts of war and worthy of a warlike response.
4
There has been almost no attention paid to this by the media here. Even in this article there is no mention that some of those killed by the government forces were as young as 14. As others have commented, the American strategy and policy in the Middle East has been a disaster. The Trump administration has exacerbated the situation by withdrawing from the nuclear deal and its policy toward the Israeli/Palestinian issue. Even moving the embassy and recognizing Israel's illegal annexation of the Golan Heights did not help Bibi win. It's been lose/lose for this administration.
3
Part of this problem is simple, use as little gas as possible.
The members of the International Conspiracy including; Big Powers, Crude-Oil Companies, and Free-Masons, that brought medieval Mullahs to power in Iran in 1970 coup, is still at work with insidious propaganda such as this one.
1
Well, this is a perfect example of totalitarianism in action. Disagree with government policy and run the risk of being shot down with impunity. President Bonespur wishes he could run this country like Iran.
2
The “personally unaccountable” policymakers,
religious, semantically only, all-too-often,
transmuting praying to...into preying on...
elected and selected, at all levels,
may change their names, garbs, mantras,
their legitimating descriptions
posed as reasonable explanations,
continue to violate by words and deeds,
with impunity, enabled by toxic,empowered
complacency of all too many, all around,
as well as the complicity of many others.
Amidst willful blindness to life-long created traumas.
Willful deafness to existential experienced pains. By all too many.
Willful indifference. Willful SILENCE. To crimes against HUmanITY
By flawed mortals: The ORDER GIVERs The order-followers. The flawed enablers.
ALL of whom will die. In pain or not. As all mortals DO. Within OUR violated-planet.
Whilst the opportunities to make much needed sustainable differences continue to exist.
At personal costS. Life. Limb. Trauma.
Risking for menschlichkeit! For values. For norms. For civility. For ethics. For mutual trust.
For principles; all too easily distorted and perverted into ummenschlichkeit.
By flawed people. For flawed agendas. Globally. Transmitted with semantic surrealism!
1
Now the Iranian people know they’re living in a police state, not a theocracy...
4
End the sanctions. Now.
We are such self-righteous imperialists.
Sanctions not only don't work, they penalize ordinary people, the ones we'd have as friends and neighbors. Didn't work with Cuba. We created nothing but hardship for millions. Ditto Iran. Ditto Afghanistan. Ditto and ditto.
We have no sense of others, or of history.
4
Imagine never being able to express your political views because you feared bringing unwanted attention to yourself and your family.
Imagine not being able to call the police if you or your property are under threat because your fear of them was greater than your fear of a criminal. The Police can give you a ticket for something they say you did weeks ago and you have no recourse but to pay it.
Imagine a hit and run driver gets off in court because he has more money than you. Being right doesn't enter into it.
Imagine not being able to trust that a newspaper is telling you the truth.
Imagine not being able to trust your neighbor because he could anonymously turn you in for some religious infraction.
This is life for the average Iranian. I was only there for a year and I found the restrictions difficult to live with. On our arrival in Iran we were given a package on cultural shock. The first item in it was a card with a phone number we were to call if we needed assistance of any kind. It was the number of a lawyer who came with a briefcase full of money for bribes.
We were lucky because we knew we could leave at any time. It's a life sentence for most Iranians.
7
All of this killing and suffering of the people of Iran just so they can have a nuclear device. Absurd!
1
What they are saying is that there isn't going to be a Hong Kong here.
1
Since the revolution in 1979 Iran has become the locus of evil in the Middle East, destabilizing Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria and exporting terrorism to all corners of the globe. The theocracy ruling Iran today represent a bastardization of Shi'ism and a rejection of the Koran, not an embrace. They rule in their name and in their interests only, not in the interests of the people of Iran or of those who are Shiite.
3
Arab youth is yearning for freedom.
We, the so-called countries of the free, the beacon of democracy, have been waiting for this moment for decades, we put all our purpose in finding an occasion of spreading our superiority.
But now as it happens, we are an huge disappointment, we are so useless, we have no ideas, no policies. The wrong people in power to even recognize the real deal.
We could have been part of the history, but we prefer to botch it.
3
That's a very interesting point. The importance of such opportunities for the US and other Western democracies to engage in thoughtful, strategic and fruitful assistance to the people of Iran cannot be understated.
Just a correction though, Iran is not an Arab state.
3
"Arab youth is yearning for freedom."
Iranians are Persian, not Arab.
"We ..."
Speak for yourself.
6
I lived in Iran from 1977 to 1978. The protests back then were orchestrated by the Mullahs and usually occurred on Fridays (their holy day). The violence was extremely brutal. One such protest was held outside a movie theater. After the theater was filled, the protesters barred the doors and set fire to it. Just under 300 people burned to death. We left two weeks before the Shah last ride.
Its going to sound crazy but Iranians, for the most part, are a peaceful, well educated, loving people. Most university educated Iranians attend school in the USA and Canada. The disparity between the rich and poor people is enormous. The wealthy, wearing furs and gold, would walk past a person in what most would call rags as if he was invisible.
On reading this article I would guess that this civil unrest is being driven by the poor living circumstances on the ground for the average citizen. They have no forum to appeal to. Violence and protests are the only avenues open to them, Hopefully someone is listening.
11
If this happened in Gaza, the whole world would be condemning Israel. Where is the outrage? Will the UNHRC become central to indignation?
6
@MH
It has happened in Gaza.
3
The sooner religion is completely removed from all government, the sooner we will all live in a saner world. Don’t pray to gods that are silent, there are no answers from stone.
Myths are not reality, this is not the Twilight Zone.
3
"The sooner religion is completely removed from all government, the sooner we will all live in a saner world."
Violent riot control is not confined to religious governments. The 1970 Kent State shootings are a memorable example.
Anyway, the problems are economic. There is no religious rationale for raising gas prices by government mandate. In a country with inflation possibly as high as 40 percent, doing that is pure stupidity.
2
Thanks to the authors for this astonishing survey of recent events in Iran.
The article says the interior minister reported 50 military bases were attacked by the protestors. Fifty! It would be interesting to know exactly how those attacks went down and what the protestors used as weapons. That type of attack is unusually bold.
Sounds like this "protest" has strategic leadership. Hope that leadership hasn't been crushed already.
4
@Maura3
What do unarmed protesters always use as weapons? Rocks and molotov cocktails for the most part.
2
@GregP
Perhaps, but the authors mentioned the protestors at Mahshahr were able to hold off security forces for three days. At one point, according to the article, a protester fired an AK-47, which may suggestive or simply a one off.
1
Wow seems like the cheaper route would be to keep gas prices down !The road to greed is usually painted red !
2
Interesting that in the mostly western world, with our complacency there is a drift toward autocratic leaders. In the middle East they are fighting and dying for freedom and democracy, same in Hong Kong. The obvious evil actions from the Iranian government may work this time but sooner or later this government will fall. Bloodshed like this will not be forgotten. I wish there was a way to help without making things worse for the people, we should not make it worse. This has the potential to spread throughout the Middle East and if the US or Saudis get involved the whole Middle East could blow up. We live in dangerous times, with our leader being Trump and supporting MBS plus Trump wanting to act like a tough guy things could easily get out of control. Throughout history there have been explosions of war, violence and bloodshed and I fear we are on a precipice of one again.
2
Some context on the gas price increase:
"the petrol price increase was not intended primarily as a desperate money-raising measure for the government, but as a calculated means of making the economy more efficient, and switching resources to the poor."
"The rise is intended to raise about $2.5bn a year for additional subsidies for 18 million families, or about 60 million Iranians on lower incomes"
"The proposal had been recommended by the International Monetary Fund as a way of ending inefficient petrol subsidies and rebalancing government spending"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/16/protests-erupt-in-iran-after-government-raises-price-of-gas-by-50
So, a proposal that is recommended by the IMF, is geared at helping poor Iranians, and would financially hurt the wealthiest Iranians , is cause for the "Worst Unrest in 40 Years"?
Who really is behind the unrest?
The poor?
Or the wealthy Iranians who control/create the flow of information and are looking to protect their own interests?
3
Hard to feel sorry for Iran. Hoping the US can pull all support, AND any back door meddling. Let them fight it out themselves.
I mean, name ONE place since WW2 where US troops made a positive difference.
2
Forty years ago militant Iranians, engulfed by revolutionary fervor, seized the American embassy and took our diplomats hostage. Yet this little historical event has bee been ignored by the bloggers. How come?
3
There is no stronger demonic force than when leaders of a country like Iran, the clerics, claim unbridled support from their god, Allah.
The proof is that these clerics, the ayatollahs, have kept an iron grip on one of the most talented citizens in the world, the Iranian intellectuals for over 70 yrs. They have stolen and destroyed the proud heritage known as Persia, and replaced it with the inane and backward looking title of "Islamic Republic of Iran"...
There is no evil greater than those exercised by tyrants(viz, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei) who claim to be doing the work of Allah...
6
Let us not forget, W's insane invasion of Iraq, justified by blatant lies, started the downward spiral in the Middle East. And how did W steal the election, why it was that saintly Progressive Ralph Nader, who assured us that he did not want to elect Bush, and promised that he would not campaign in swing states. He was in Florida two weeks before the election.
And it was the "Progressives" in this country who effectively elected Bush, not being able to stomach voting for that stumbling, manifestly uncool Al Gore. Just as they could not stomach Hillary Clinton, aided and abetted by Jill Stein.
Fat old white men hold power in this country because the young, minorities, and women cannot get their stuff together and consistently cast intelligent votes, even when their own most vital interests are at stake.
Let us pray that they will study a little history, consult their consciences, and help us remove this monster from the White House next November.
All they have to do is turn out and vote, in the same percentages they voted for Barack Obama.
1
@Allan Lindh
We're not all fat.
2
Would anyone be willing to admit that Trump's maximum sanctions and ditching of the JCPOA is creating the exact conditions that sanctions were meant to create and that in so doing we may actually be hastening the demise of a repressive and militaristic regime?
19
Yes. The sanctions are in fact doing what they are intended to do. Now I’ll ask a reciprocal question: are you willing to admit that Trump abused his power to exert influence over a foreign government for personal political gain?
2
@Fred Schmitz Lets not forget that sanctions and embargoes often lead to war. The US embargo against Japan in the run-up to WWII gave us Pearl Harbor. It would not surprise me if the harm we are doing to Iran might spark a major attack against Saudi oil installations, or even the mining of the Straits of Hormuz.
1
@Tom In Oakland
No, not going to admit anything like that. Not when you don't object to Biden strong arming the same country to fire a prosecutor. Not when the Clinton Foundation engaged in Pay to Play for Years. But do go ahead and keep repeating the talking point. Your field is so full of winning candidates right now isn't it?
5
The USA had an opening with the moderate Rouhani who had a hard enough time defending his more open policy + nuclear dead to the conservative clerics.
Now the Trump administration, being a tool of Netanjahu and the Saudi Crown Prince has stepped back from the contract, enacted sanctions that hurt the people, hardly the government.
They played into the hands of the clerics who said all along you cannot trust the USA. So they made Iran more dangerous - not less.
5
@MSF
Made them more dangerous how? You really believe they weren't doing everything they are doing NOW, Before we withdrew from the JCPOA? Only difference is now they are doing it in the open, instead of in the dark. If what you can't see can't hurt you then there was no problem with that approach.
1
@GregP
It is not black and white. I do not say they were angels, but the moderates had the upper hand - which they loose when people starve + they can point the finger at the US.
We left the seat at the table.
2
The only solution I can think of is a full scale invasion of Iran. Shock and Awe by land, sea, and air. The occupation will require up to one million US troops, but it may be necessary. We are left with no alternative.
3
"The occupation will require up to one million US troops, ..."
International coalitions conducted the invasions of both of Iraq and Afghanistan, so you would be committing other countries too.
How many troops will you be providing?
3
Has that ever worked out? Anywhere?
2
This is sarcasm right?
1
While Trump could attempt get credit for the unrest in Iran, will the unrest in three Iranian controlled countries this result in a more severe dictatorship in Iran, Iraq,and Lebanon?We have already seen the result in Syria.
Will it give Russia an avenue to to take control of these three countries and Syria along with Iranian hardliners? Remember Putin is playing chess while Trump is still trying to learn how to play checkers. Civilians who rebelled are getting slaughtered by Russians in Syria, and the world is silent. Russia controlling a significant part of Mideast oil would be a game changer if Putin and Iran are ready to say "checkmate" to US sanctions. Trump is making sure NATO is totally neutered while abroad.
4
@LVG Are you suggesting that Trump's policies are creating a fiasco?
1
It seems there is a common theme around the world when a dictator is in charge - he/she owns the army. In Iran's case, it's the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. When people cannot defend themselves against their own attacking army, they will never be free. Rule of law and government balances are the only thing that separates the west from the rest of the world. So very sad.
7
The regime’s “Golden Pheasants” — its senior leadership — must deeply fear the Iranian people to respond to their protests so viciously; a degree of viciousness suggesting they sense it’s tottering.
And why not? One wonders what Ayatollah Khomeini would think of the mess that his successor, Ayatollah Khamenei, has made of the Iranian Revolution, were he still alive. One can only speculate, of course. But what started out as many individual small acts of resistance to a foppish tin pot dictator that ultimately spawned a popular resistance movement that overthrew the dictator has gone full circle — spawned another popular movement against a corrupt, incompetent, foreign-adventurist regime that’s easily as bad as the Shah’s.
5
Government has killed humans for centuries, at times, by the thousands or millions. Yet, being aware of this does not lessen my sadness at its killing of more than 200 humans protesting against higher petrol prices.
These price hikes come amid economic sanctions which have caused hardship for the Iranian people. Its killings of humans remind us that government is a deadly invention.
4
Iran traded a progressive authoritarian and secular regime for a cabal of retrograde totalitarian clerics. That’s what’s known on Wall Street as a “bad trade”. However, the alternative to the mullahs is not the shah. Iran can be a secular democracy if given the chance. Ironically, Iranians along with the people of Hong Kong have shown a willingness to fight for freedom at a time when many western leaders have chipped away at freedom in their own countries. Those of us in the West need to guard our freedoms so we don’t lose them as have the people of Iran.
7
Reality Check inaction always been agenda in Great Deception. Iran could be paradise as it was once in garden eden. What happens when country were good people alow evil to florish thru inaction. Hope is knowing 99 percent of cure hopefully Iran wake up stop using its resources to build miltary never be used because weapons mass destruction can allready destroy entire earth 1000 time .
2
The pro-government hardliners in Iran are sort of the Iranian equivalent to Trump voters in the US: ignorant, intolerant and confused.
2
Hmmmmm, maybe they’re having second thoughts about throwing out the Shah!
5
The 2003 US invasion of Iraq was seen by many as a gift the Iranians. Destroy Saddam's regime with no idea what to do afterwards. The Arab Spring of anger against Arab weakness led to more regime change efforts by the US and its friends in Libya and Syria. Iran aided Syria and it appears Assad will survive despite a violent destructive proxy war led by the US, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Iran seems to be going through the beginnings of the revolt that faced Syria. In Syria it was a drought that drove food prices up which led to protests then violent repression by Assad. In Iran's case a destabilizing economic contraction caused by US sanctions made worse by gov't suppression. Iran seems a more likely place for a massive civil disobedience effort to work. Iraq is continuing to pay a terrible toll for Bush's calamitous blunder.
3
@ Dan-The people of Iran traded the Shah and his suppression and dictatorial policies for the Revolutionary Guards and their suppression and dictatorial policies.
You are wrong!!. The people of Iran made their decision to have a democratic government w/ an elected Prime Minister Mosaddegh in 1953 only to have the CIA promote a coup & place their choice puppet, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (the Shah of Iran) as PM of Iran in power. The revolt against the Shaw brought back the Ayatollah Homeini from exile in France to begin the current theocratic kleptocracy. Thus, again, the USA is to blame for what has come back to bite us.
9
@Raskolnikov
Nothing is as simple as that in the history of any nation.
1
This was all great since it fomented a situation where the Iranians’ arch religious rivals, the Wahabbi of Saudi Arabia, could export their own oil with less competition and thus further promote their own, one-and-only correct religion.
1
@Raskolnikov that's a popular version, courtesy also of Kinzer's book ("All the Shah's Men"). I read that book and, while not doubting the CIA's interference, I find it very hard to believe that a few foreign agents with a bunch of money managed to single-handedly cause the fall of a regime in a massive and populous country like Iran. Kinzer never asks that question in his book, which in my view significantly undermines the validity of his arguments.
5
Continuing Operation Ajax Blowback.
3
@Sean: Yes, and hardly anyone in the US knows what you're talking about.
Many more Iranians remember, or have been told.
What on earth are you talking about? The Iranian regime raised gasoline prices 50 percent. Please stop pretending you understand history.
2
@David H
Minus Operation Ajax no Savak later generating Mullahs. Thus no gas price hike.
Developing global historical perspective beneficial regarding snark glossing over personal ignorance.
3
The explosive, toxic result of that most deadly cocktail: a mix of religion, money, and power. A fire needs oxygen, fuel, and ignition. Social breakdown also requires the right mix of elements. In Iran it seems the tinder is quite dry (the stressed population is overwhelmingly young and the government powers held overwhelmingly by the old) and years of mismanagement and stagnation are creating the heat and ignition the Ayatollah ‘s murderous force is struggling to contain. In the USA we are approaching a similar situation but things are not nearly as severe ... though we, too, are racing toward the poison cocktail.
19
@Pottree What about the corruption?
1
@Pottree
"...the stressed population is overwhelmingly young and the government powers held overwhelmingly by the old..."
Parse that thought for a minute while considering the currently viable candidates for America's president.
The people of Iran are suffering horribly. But it’s a Trumpfox delusion that violent overthrow of the regime would bring peace, order and good government. Like, for instance Iraq (population 40 million)..?
Iran’s population is more than double that and is also split among Shia and minority religious and ethnic groups. The possibilities for meltdown, terrorism, civil war and a refugee crisis that would dwarf Iraq’s and Syria’s (population 17 million) are obvious to anyone who has taken Middle East 101.
But not the Trumpfox Consortium.
4
With the Obama nuclear deal, a medieval fascist theocracy would now be flooded with oil money - all ending up in the pockets of the theocrats and their military clique. And at the end of the deal, they would come back for more, with another round of "destroy Israel" threats.
Kudos to Trump for refusing to engage with a regime that is every bit as abhorrent as the Saudi one.
11
I feel sorry for the people of Iran. I'm sorry that we contributed to this pain.
6
Are you suggesting that the people of Iran do not have free will?
Would this have happened without Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal and the imposition of heavy sanctions? No, this is a direct result of the US trying to destabilize and ruin yet another country in the ME that dares challenge US power.
3
There you go again, Greg, putting the blame on everyone other than on the Iranian regime. 
The American withdraw from the nuclear agreement was a clever move, and now the clerical Iranian regime is struggling to have its cake and eat it too.
The Iranian people ultimately will choose whether money is put into a nuclear and missile program in violation of United Nations resolutions, or into the Iranian economy, so that the Iranian people can benefit.
2
Although I strongly condemn the regime violence in Iran and its brutal crackdown on protesters, Trump is partly to blame for the economic hardships there and popular grievances that have led to mass protests across the country.
Not only had he withdrawn the US last year from the nuclear deal that Iran signed with world powers in 2015, he also imposed stringent sanctions on Tehran, that aim to cripple its economy and bend the country to his will.
As President Hassan Rouhani snubbed his offer in September to meet him on the sideline of the UN General Assembly in New York, he has no empathy for the sufferings of ordinary Iranians.
No doubt Trump and his hawkish allies at home and abroad are gloating over the deadly clashes between civilians and troops of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps. They hope for an implosion, that would trigger a regime change in Tehran. Mir Hussein Moussavi, an opposition leader made a reference to the infamous 1978 massacre which rallied public support and led to the toppling of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Instability in Iran is in no one's interest. The region is unstable enough.
6
Mr. Trump is partly to blame for the decision by the revolutionary guards to murder in cold blood 100 innocent people?
What’s next? Mr. Trump is partly to blame for the arctic cold snap that is causing heavy snow in the northeastern USA?
Help!!!
1
The Rise of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard - Praise Be to Trump.
Think of it this way: Before Trump, President Obama gathered world leaders to employ strategic diplomacy in dealing with Iran. An agreement was reached and monitors were in place to assure success. Then Trump, at the urging of Israel and Saudi Arabia, rips up the agreement without the consent and cooperation of world leaders, and begins a regressive campaign to destroy the Iranian economy.
Well, it's working, isn't it? And the Revolutionary Guard is slaughtering protesters in response. What, exactly, did Trump THINK was going to happen when the average Iranian protested huge increases in prices for everyday goods? That the Revolutionary Guard would lay down its weapons and support the protests? That average Iranians and their hunting rifles would overthrow the Revolutionary Guard and form a democracy? Trump policy is actually killing innocent people.
8
@Don Stubbs
The money returned to Iran by Obama was used for? By?
I do believe the answer is the Revolutionary guard and to finance more wars and deaths in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and the Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Deaths in Yemen for geopolitical power are as tragic as those at the hands of the Revolutionary guard in Iran ... even in Europe as they send out death squads.
Would gas taxes and other cuts be taken out on the people if that money Obama returned was used for the good of the people of Iran?
8
This is just a side note, but from the perspective of journalistic standards and clarity, what exactly does "Altogether, from 180 to 450 people, and possibly more" communicate?
180 are definite; 270 more are "possible enough" to be included in a numeric count, and some unspecified additional number are less likely but "possible"? This sentence requires an explanation.
8
"This sentence requires an explanation."
That sentence is badly written. My guess is that there were two different sources for the two different numbers. The Times should just say what its sources are for those numbers.
And the phrase "possibly more" is nothing but junk reporting. Of course, there could be "more" when no one is keeping careful count.
2
Appalling.
Iran, Russia, and China (along with their satellite states) are becoming this centuries Axis powers.
Trump must be tougher on all three of them.
10
The Trump Doctrine of friendly persuasion vs bombs and bullets is working wonders not just in Ayatollah Iran, but in Communist China, archaic Russia and even despotic North Korea and Syria as well.
It is time to forget your political persuasions and just say: “thank you Mister President for your leadership”... Just do it, you will feel better too.
12
@Moe
So true. Thank You
2
Religious governments are generally hated by the population. Would be a smart strategic move to make an all out war versus Iran once and for all. If they fall then Putin will fall . MacArthur stated during the Korean War to give him ten atom bombs and not only would they fall but China would fall. Yes there would of been short term losses however for seventy years North Korea has been a dictatorship killing and torturing hundreds of thousands. Israel and the US should move forward and end the Iranian Revolutionary Guard once and for all. There will be losses but better now while they are weak . When Iran falls the Russians will panic for they can easily be conquered after Iran falls. Better now then wait another fifty years. Look how many the Russians and Iranians killed mercilessly in Syria. The snake is in Iran. Cut off its head.
5
Iran is the most significant exporter of terrorism in the world. Yet, many heads are burrowed deep into the ground in fierce denial. Regime change is fitting and because Iran has proven to be untrustworthy. President Trump's policies are effective against this renegade regime. The NY Times will never give Trump credit for anything and generally takes a polar opposite position. It is time to be objective.
17
What happens when bad leaders try to stay in power. Vis a Vis Trump. Water that doesn't move along gets tainted. Take a hint from Mother Nature.
1
What do France, Lebanon, and Iran have in common? Unrest triggered by increased fuel prices.
It appears that in the modern world, fuel subsidies are necessary to prevent civil disorder, and perhaps a breakdown of society itself.
This should be ringing warning bells: we are still completely dependent on oil, and we need to develop affordable alternatives as quickly as possible.
2
With all the respect for your opinion, Iran has a hundred other problems. This was a trigger to all the burden people of Iran have on their shoulders and their hatred of the religious government. while I do agree with your solution it is not the reason behind the protests.
7
@someone: The fact that both France and Iran were tipped into unrest by rising fuel prices makes my point more valid, not less so as you seem to imply.
No matter what shape your country is in, no matter how many problems it has or does not have, if you raise fuel prices, you risk civil unrest. Hence my warning: if we don't find a way around oil-based energy, expect more of the same, and climate disruption too.
Read the first line of the article: "What started as a protest over a surprise increase..."
The Iranian people are no different from anyone else. They want fairness, equality, security, and peace. They are human beings who have been suppressed and oppressed by fanatical leaders. They are NOT the ones who want to destroy Israel. They are NOT the ones who wish to become a nuclear power to destroy their enemies. This uprising has been simmering like an unvented pressure cooker. Yet who will aid the innocent victims? Certainly not America. Certainly not Trump and his minions. This will not end well. A cruel and brutal Ayatollah will be the victor as the world stands by watching and doing nothing.
11
I think people in the West are sympathetic, but what can we do? Change must come from within. Perhaps it will take another revolution.
2
At least we can be comforted in knowing that America, Israel and Saudi Arabia have not been instrumental in fomenting the violence and chaos in Iran.........right. Iraq, Lybia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Hong Kong, etc, all have fallen prey to American meddling and subterfuge, and the ordinary people suffer. History will not be kind to America.
4
Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, even Israel.
Across the Middle East, yearnings for a better life are apparent.
Those yearning also show up here at home, and in Britain, Taiwan, and more places across the globe.
If there are lessons, one is that our species is more similar than we often recognize.
Another is that political systems in which people can mobilize attention for their aspirations without mass killings are far more preferable to the horrific alternatives we see almost daily.
33
usually those right to mobilize without mass killings have been paid for with the blood of patriots !
2
Puzzling why major western nations would give any credence to a nuclear weapons agreement with a nation whose leaders have no problems killing hundreds of its unarmed citizens. History is replete with examples of repressive governments that expand their empires with similar ruthlessness to their opponents.
After the carnage of WWII its difficult to understand Europe’s rather cavalier treatment of Iran’s rogue regime. Unless the opportunities for doing “business” with Iran trumps all other considerations. Even a ruthless regime possessing nuclear weapons able to terrorize and destroy nations.
15
@Peter I Berman
"a nation whose leaders have no problems killing hundreds of its unarmed citizens."
Such as Pakistan?
4
"... Europe’s rather cavalier treatment of Iran’s rogue regime."
The EU, France, Germany, and the UK were among the signatories to the so-called "Iran nuclear deal".
However, the deal "is not a treaty or an executive agreement, and is not a signed document."
For more about the criticisms of the deal, see:
A Trip Down Memory Lane: In 2015 the Obama Administration Said the Iran Deal Wasn’t Even a ‘Signed Document’
By David French
May 10, 2018
National Review web site.
4
Iran made a mistake in raising gas prices. Its main products are Saffron, Pistachios and oil and it should make these available at affordable price. The political unrest in Iran is Iran's internal affairs and the US should not start a regime change war.
4
@Girish Kotwal if only selling pistachios and saffron to your own citizens was a way to sustain a healthy economy. The issue here are the paralyzing sanctions the US has imposed on Iran since 1979 and that the Trump administration has short-sightedly increased.
6
@L from Chicago. Iran's problems are of its own making. Trump did not increase gas prices in Iran.
7
This situation is unbelievably sad. As one of a handful of Americans to have visited Iran recently, I can only say that the Iranian people are among the nicest I've ever encountered in my travelers. They are incredibly kind, sweet and generous.
They have also been struggling economically for years. There are, of course, a few very wealthy Iranians, but the vast majority -- who are, incidentally, highly educated -- are just trying to eke out a living. It is no wonder, then, that when the government abruptly increased gasoline prices, the people felt the need to fight back.
It is tragic that the Iranian people have, effectively, no say in how their country is run. I'm confident that if they did, Iran would not be fighting proxy wars in the Middle East and developing nuclear weapons.
101
"They [the Iranian people] are incredibly kind, sweet and generous."
Evidently you didn't encounter any Iranian Guidance Patrols, which are a sort of morality police.
See the Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guidance_Patrol
13
@CRH I'm guessing he knows about them. The morality police are not the people.
9
@ALB I also am an American who visited Iran this year. In general, Iranians are exceedingly kind and hospitable. And I agree with you, the regime there does not represent the views or aims of the majority of the people.
6
How would we feel if a foreign government had been meddling (well beyond trying to assist some candidates over others) in our internal affairs for generations, and then, backed out of an agreement and imposed crippling sanctions? A little history lesson might help.
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@Bob Which of course doesn't excuse or justify a government shooting into crowds of protestors and turning off the internet so there is no footage of their egregious human rights violations. I don't agree with imposing the sanctions but much of the economic problems in Iran are related to mismanagement and corruption which officials have acknowledged. We should be careful not to take the conversation away from the real issues by making it only about the sanctions.
7
Our Middle East strategy:
“ Punish them!” “Increase sanctions!” “Bomb them!” “Ban them!” Turn sand into glass!” “Murder civilians!” “Sell arms to their enemies!” “Regime change!” “Take the oil!”
... “Why do they hate us?!”
Forget about being uneducated and cruel, we apparently also lack basic logic skills. How many more times do we need to follow the same strategy in the Middle East before we realize it’s not working?
The Iranian military is promoting evil via proxy throughout the M.E., and its government is reprehensible. But, unless we miraculously become smarter and develop meaningful M.E. strategy, we’ll just make things worse.
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@Touran9 I agree that because of foolish American foreign policies like the one that replaced an elected Iranian government with feudal era shahs, Iran now suffers under the rule of the religious right. You have to agree, though, that economic "sanctions" have hurt the Iranian economy and thereby weakened the rule by the religious self appointed rulers. Of course it's always the oppressed who get to feel the pain until they rise up and hang their leaders from the lamp posts.
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@Touran9
If by "make things worse" you mean "adding to the Iranian public's disgust with the theocracy and its suppression of the individual: That is greatly to be desired. Will lives be lost? Yes, just as lives were lost in the American revolution. But the result is worth the sacrifice -- as the Iranian public will affirm -- indeed, are affirming now.
Freedom from oppressors does not come without a price.
3
@RLW
Agreed! Just as the Italians did with Benito Mussolini at the end of World War II, the Iranians should do with the Ayatollah at the earliest possible opportunity.
Marg Bar Diktator! (Death to the dictator)!
1
Let's be honest: This is exactly the sort of result US sanctions are *intended* to produce, in order to destabilize a government our leaders want to replace.
The willful blindness and blatant hypocrisy of my fellow Americans never cease to amaze me.
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@Douglas
The problem is, Iranians don’t blame Iranian leadership for their problems, they blame the United States.
When the Iran deal was in place, moderates were gaining more power and influence as they sought trade deals with the west. But now the Iranian regime is closer to developing a nuclear weapon than ever and hardliners have the majority of power.
If Iran successfully develops a nuclear weapon (which wouldn’t have happened were the Iran deal in place still) it would be a nightmare end of days scenario if the country devolved into civil war because then who knows who would wind up in control of a nuclear weapon.
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Douglas: "This is exactly the sort of result US sanctions are *intended* to produce, ..."
Wrong.
The "United States actions [reimposition of sanctions] are aimed at the regime and its threatening behavior [nuclear ambitions] — not at the long-suffering Iranian people.
For this reason, we reiterate today that the sale of food, medicine, medical devices, and agricultural commodities to Iran has long been, and remains, exempt from the sanctions."
Statement by the President Regarding the Reimposition of Nuclear-Related Sanctions on Iran
November 2, 2018
Source: White House web site.
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@Austin Ouellette That's just frankly not true regarding the Iranian people placing blame. When the Iranian government tried to claim that it was the sanctions, Iranians protested and called on their government to take responsibility for their own action rather than blaming the US. You should revisit the chants from the 2017/2018 protests and even these protests. The entire discourse in Iran has been about corruption and mismanagement putting responsibility on their own government.
22
If only these riots can be the beginning of a Democracy, and the removal of the religious zealots.The bane of the region is the religious fanatics like Khomeini.
A stable Iran without Nuclear weapons,would be the beginning
of peace throughout the Middle East. Now, if only the people can eliminate the the oil barons & the feudal lords.
8
Violent upheavals rarely lead to better outcomes. There was a better opportunity for change (albeit slower & less violent) prior to our pullout of the agreement with Iran. While the agreement was in effect & sanctions lifted, Iranians lives began to improve and the people were able to demand more. Now they're in survival mode with no ability to push for positive change except through chaos.
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@KaneSugar
"Violent upheavals rarely lead to better outcomes."
Really? Like the US Civil War?
2
@Independent1776 Maybe America should first eliminate the "oil barons & feudal lords" in our own government.
1
Obama's secret strategy revealed here. Pass the JCPOA on the false hope it would lead to change. Then select Hillary as his replacement so she would lose to Trump, who would then withdraw from the JCPOA prompting the Iranian Economy to collapse and the people to rise up. Have to say, in the end, a very clever strategy indeed.
2
That the Iranian clerical regime announced the gasoline price hike of 50% "as most Iranians had gone to bed" is a very telling index of how fragile and terrified is the Iranian leadership.
The use of overwhelming force to demonstrate omnipotence -- the murder of more than 100 Iranian citizens who were seeking refuge in a marsh -- is another.
A government that is NOT afraid of its own people does not behave in such a manner.
I assess that it is a matter of time before the Iranian people revolt en masse. Western nations need to be prepared to assist.
17
Luckily for the Ayatollah, he has a hotline to God and knows everything, so he can hold the religious cudgel over the head of the people; that’s the secret weapon, of the nuclear weapons his government is trying so hard to develop. That’s why he is the Supreme Leader who can overrule anything and anyone in the supposedly elected sham government. This is a good reason for us at home to take a deep breath and strengthen the wall we supposedly have between church and state instead of going down a path where Opus Dei and Evangelical Christians set the course of our government.
It’s incredible how stupid governments can be. Suddenly raising fuel prices always sets off riots. If these governments slowly increased the price by little tiny increments they’d accomplish the same economic results with no shock treatment.
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@Machiavelli
The sudden increase indicates that time is not on the side of the regime.
13
The Revolution of 1979 was a popular revolution which was hijacked by the Islamists. The first things they do was to put in jail or executed the non cleric leaders of the revolution, liberals, socialists, union leaders,... and also forcing the women to wear the tchador. They also betrayed their promises of democracy. A sovereign constituant assembly was to be elected to write a new constitution. Never happen, it was a committee of clerics whom write it and they imposed it through a referendum. Former members of the Shah secret police were hired by the clerics so they could help the ayatollahs to repress any opposition to their corrupt dictatorship. 40 years later the Iranian people are showing the world that they have not giving up on the goals of the democratic and people revolution of 1979.
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@Wilbray Thiffault
It wasn't hijacked by the zealots, it was DRIVEN and GUIDED by them. What in the world did any Iranian enthusiastically supporting this "Islamic Revolution" think what would come as a result? Religious tyranny or democracy????
7
"... an abrupt increase of at least 50 percent in gasoline prices."
Very shallow reporting on the underlying economics. And not one word on how gas prices are set in Iran. Are there price controls? Or was the price increase from an added tax?
And the linked article is not much better, because it only vaguely refers to a "new energy policy" and to "energy subsidies".
1
@CRH price controls? I don't think so. Only control of the population by brutal authoritarian rule and ultra orthodox interpretation of the holy scriptures by "men who know".
7
rixax: "price controls? I don't think so. ... authoritarian rule ..."
Price controls have been used in the US and the UK at various times. In particular, rent control is still used in San Francisco and in New York City, although they are euphemistically justified as "rent stabilization".
See the Wikipedia article, "Price controls".
See, also, the discussion of price controls in "Basic economics : a common sense guide to the economy" by Thomas Sowell.
1
This is great. Whatever we can do to help the Iranian people bring down the illegitimate, unelected, religious-fanatic dictators who rule over Iran we should do.
I'd start with contacting Iran's oil customers and offering to sell them oil at a discount as incentive to stop dealing with Iran. Oil is Iran"s #1 product. If they cannot sell their #1 product they'll have almost no income and it's just a matter of time before their dictatorial regime collapses.
12
The protest in Iran manifested the en masse discontentment toward the regime from Iran people.
Please cover more incidents in Iran and use the journalism to protect the people.
31
I was wondering what gas now costs in Tehran so I looked it up on GlobalPetrolPrices. The post increase price, reported for November 25th, was 15,000 IRR per liter, which converts to $0.466 ((USD) per gallon. A price increase to forty-six cents a gallon incited riot. This says a lot about how the bulk of the population must be living.
11
@Tom In Oakland Did you also 'look up' the average yearly income of the average citizen in the country?
5
"... 15,000 IRR per liter, which converts to $0.466 ((USD) per gallon."
Exchanges rates are almost meaningless when a country is under heavy economic sanctions.
See, for example, "The Use of Exchange Houses and Trading Companies to Evade U.S. Economic Sanctions Against Iran", an advisory from the US Treasury.
Basically, currency exchange has to be done on a black market, which severely distorts exchange rates.
1
Yes. I completely agree. The incomes must be incomprehensibly low. But let’s go even one idea further- if you can’t afford $0.46/gal gas, then how is it that you can afford a car to put the gas in? It’s all just interesting.
By the way- it surprises me how many people say they would never move to CA because the gas is so expensive. And gas taxes are very regressive. All these things...
I'm guessing that Trump's sanctions are taking their toll. We have caused Iran so much economic hardship that it might even bring about regime change. Isn't that what Trump wanted?
6
@Antoine why would anyone want to change this wonderful regime?
6
The people of Iran traded the Shah and his suppression and dictatorial policies for the Revolutionary Guards and their suppression and dictatorial policies.
Not much of a trade I would say.
And the Guards blame outside elements for their brutality and failures.
How many more will die due to the brutal regime that replaced a brutal regime.
What is alarming is the current regime in Iran is allegedly religion based.
13
@Dan Let's remember that the "monstrous" Shah had fewer than 2000 political prisoners in jail at the time of his overthrow, which is not exactly "brutal" by contemporary international standards. Following that, an estimated 200,000 Iranians were killed in the purge that came with the so-called revolution, including many of those who fomented it in the first place.
12
The next time you consider the 'Iran deal' (the JCPOA), please remember that this regime is actively seeking nuclear weapons. It already develops and possesses ballistic missiles, has developed ever more sophisticated cruise missiles and other guided missiles.
Through its proxies in Lebanon and, most recently in Yemen, this regime is placing sophisticated missiles with terrorits organizations in order to further the regime's goals of controlling the Middle East.
The Ayatollah is a tyrant. He believes in a medieval view of regional and religious domination. He will not ever change his views.
Sometimes, I have comments suggest, in essence, that I sound too much like propoganda against Iran. Well, unfortunately, that is what the truth sounds like. It is brutal, coming from brutality.
Everyone should do their part to help the people of Iran rid themselves of this regime, so that the people can live like a normal nation.
Appeasing this regime with concessions, a sweetheart 'Iran Deal', or workarounds of sanctions (some European countries), is appeasement that will not work.
What will Iran be like in 10-years. What will be our role in supporting the people or alternatively in enabling this awful regime?
30
@AW
An Iranian expat scientist once explained to me the apocalyptic vision of the Ayatollahs, that nuclear war will usher in the world wide victory of their Imam. He was terrified when they took power and predicted a drive for nuclear weapons and forment of war. That was 1981.
6
It is hard to understand the raw brutality of what has happened. Some thing must change but how that comes about is beyond my understanding. The savagery of the clerics in the government is inexplicable and inexcusable. Iran must be a country in total shock. What is to be done?
8
The ”raw brutality“ to which you refer is only difficult to understand if you have not been reading the newspaper and following the Iranian regime‘s support for terrorism and nuclear weapons over the interests of the Iranian people.
And in the hidden corridors of the CIA, and of Mossad and wherever MBS lurks, there is great pleasure that Iran is divided and bloody.
America took sides in the civil war, Saudi Sunni against Shia Iran, and this is one of the results, a fanaticism that puts brother against brother.
But don't pretend that America wants peace in the Middle East, it wants exactly what it is getting, an alliance with the Saudi Royal House and the chaos that devastates the lives of the poor and the powerless.
Trump is destroying our State Department so he can accelerate the process.
Hugh
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@Hugh Massengill Chaos has been the guiding theme since oil fueled battleships.
1
@Hugh Massengill
Astonishing, that we can't simply, unequivocally see this for what it is and somehow need to bring in the CIA and Mossad and somehow blame the centuries-old conflict between Sunni and Shia and that religious fanaticism on the US is absurd. We should be overjoyed that people in Iran are revolting against their Medieval, theocratic rulers and do everything to support that effort. Period.
16
Of course the US is responsible for repression, hunger in Venezuela and North Korea and a dysfunctional economy in Cuba. Is their anything bad in the world that the left doesn’t blame on the US?
5
From Tehran to Hong Kong, undemocratic, repressive regimes are finding it difficult to keep down popular democratic movements.
Meanwhile progressive democratic nations are seeing the emergence of fascism.
One movement is a result of the free flow of information, the other the result of the free flow of mis-information.
205
@Ralph Averill Happening in our nation also!
8
@Ralph Averill your comment is spot on. We can only hope that oppressive regimes give way to democratic rule and set an example to the United States of truth to power. Maybe, on the upside the misinformation coming out of the White House on a daily basis is so apparent to0 the rest of the world that they make truth and justice their own rallying cry.
11
@Ralph Averill The elites have one slogan: " What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine." If you haven't noticed, they are living high on the hog at the expense of everyone else.
12
It’s no secret, as this article clearly demonstrates, that the clerical regime in to Teheran is widely despised by the Iranian public. I believe that it is crucial that the United States and the western world increase the economic pressure on Iran, because the only thing that will lead to a change in the country‘s leadership is a popular revolt. There is simply no way that the Iranian security forces can stand in opposition to 60 million people. Such a change would be good for the world, ending Iran’s incessant support for terrorism and bringing the country back into the community of civilized nations.
86
@David H The "company of civilized nations"? Which ones are those?
26
@David H As an American citizen I do not support actions that will harm Iranian citizens. It is not in our interest to do so. However, we need to watch out for third parties such as the Arab Oil Kingdoms such as Saudi Arabia, Emirates and also Israel in pushing us to take actions that benefit them but not us.
19
@Antoine
The ones that don’t hold diplomats hostage. The ones that don’t help Assad murder his own people. The ones that don’t mass produce road side bombs and sneak them into a neighboring country where they brutally maim tens of thousands of children and other non-combatants.
15
Given the Revolutionary Guard’s widely known brutality, this is a fairly predictable consequence of trump’s sledge-hammer foreign policy.
And in reaction, the cult chants “Lock her up!” with their usual unbridled, unthinking fervor.
29
Only here can one read a comment that blames on Mr. Trump the brutality of Iran’s revolutionary guards.
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This is more than just a consequence of Trump. The revolutionary guards & their supreme leader has turned Iran into an kleptocracy designed to enrich the guards and their leaders. That and their aspirations for regional domination have led them into putting the interests of their poorer supporters last. “It’s the economy stupid” applies to more than just western democracies you know. Supporting Assad & Hezbollah hasn’t done anything for the ordinary Iranian & they’re waking up to that now.
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@RickyDick Right. So let's take Obama's tack and send the supreme leaders another billion or two to prop up their regime and help them suppress the uprisings.
12