Security forces in Iran have brutally cracked down on anti-government protests in cities across the Islamic Republic in the first two weeks of January, killing more than 2,500 people according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. The Iranian government claimed the death toll was closer to 300.
The latest cycle of popular protests were sparked by a convergence of several factors, including years of economic decline exacerbated by U.S. sanctions (including sanctions on countries that trade with Iran) and Iran privatizing major industries and putting them under the control of the military.
Meanwhile, leaders in the U.S., Israel and other Western states have been ramping up rhetoric calling for regime change, with President Donald Trump threatening military intervention if the lethal crackdown on protesters continues. Israeli leaders have indicated that its Mossad spy agency is active on the ground at the protests.
Many in the West have expressed support for Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last shah of Iran who was overthrown in the 1979 revolution. However, other experts warn that calls for foreign military intervention could lead to regional escalation and civilian harm without improving life in Iran.
Writing in the Globe and Mail, The Grind contributor Samira Mohyeddin warned against foreign officials or pundits meddling or speaking on behalf of Iranians: “They are demanding the right to shape their own future, on their own terms. And rightly so: Iran’s path to freedom must be Iranian,” Mohyeddin wrote.
