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Iranians are protesting again in the streets, just months after the regime crushed demonstrations across the country over the country's collapsed economy and widespread corruption. Periodic eruptions are a sign of discontent that can spread as the pressure of new US sanctions increases.
The latest upheavals took place in the southwestern town of Khorramshahr after brown fluid began to run out of taps. Hundreds of residents gathered in a public space reserved for Friday prayers and blamed local officials for lack of clean water, chanting anti-government slogans as "in the name of religion, they looted us". Demonstrations also broke out in Abadan.
The weekend protests are part of a more general dissatisfaction with the ruling theocracy in Tehran. In December and January, protests erupted in more than 100 cities on inflation, unemployment and corruption. The women organized hijab demonstrations, tearing their sails. In March, farmers in Isfahan province, central Iran, protested against long droughts. In May, truckers went on a national strike to protest stagnant wages and rising costs.
Supreme Guide ayatollah
Ali Khamenei
and president
Hassan Rouhani
pledged that the 2015 nuclear deal, which channeled tens of billions of dollars in hard currency to Iran, would lead to better economic times. Instead, the regime used the money to finance its Quds Force operations and its Shiite militias in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
President Trump's decision in May to step out of the nuclear deal and reimpose financial sanctions is already exerting increasing pressure on the regime. Protesters invaded Tehran's grand bazaar last month after the local currency, the rial, collapsed to 90,000 for a dollar on the black market. The rial has fallen by almost half since the end of 2017, with traders and banks anticipating that it is harder to get dollars. Economist Steve Hanke estimates that annual inflation has soared to 126%.
In August, the US Treasury plans to reimpose sanctions on gold and other precious metals, trade in US dollars, trade in Iranian sovereign debt and automobiles. In November, sanctions will be imposed on ports, shipbuilding, oil, energy, insurance, and more. A State Department official suggested last month that the United States wants to stop all Iranian oil exports, but the director of policy planning on Monday
Brian Hook
stated that it would consider exemptions for countries on a case-by-case basis.
million. Rouhani reacted on Tuesday threatening to disrupt oil deliveries from neighboring countries in the Middle East, but this would prompt the United States to intervene to keep oil in the Strait of Hormuz. The United States does not want a spike in oil prices with a barrel already sold for nearly $ 75. But the risks are much greater for Iran though it does not change its raiding behavior because its political control at home is far from certain.
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