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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/opinion/iran-protests-inequality.html?_r=0
Why Iran Is Protesting
(New York Times) Amir Ahmadi Arian - The current unrest looks different than in 2009. Nonviolence is not a sacred principle. The protests first intensified in small religious towns all over the country, where the government used to take its support for granted. The chants are also different this time. They include "Down with embezzlers" and "Leave the country alone, mullahs." During the 1999 and 2009 uprisings, the protesters enjoyed support from powerful reformists. This time, the demonstrators don't want support from anyone associated with the status quo, including Rouhani, the reformist president. Iranian economists and intellectuals have long warned that something like this could happen. In early 2015, Mohsen Renani, professor of economy at the University of Isfahan, wrote expressing deep concern over rising inflation and government incompetence. A detailed study published last month by the BBC's Farsi-language service demonstrated the alarming decline of household income over the past decade. Iranians see pictures of the family members of the authorities drinking and hanging out on beaches around the world, while their daughters are arrested over a fallen head scarf and their sons are jailed for buying alcohol.