On 24 June, demonstrations kicked off once again in Iran. This was the same day that a general strike took place in Teheran’s bazar. It seems that while these demonstrations are geographically limited, they bring together the country folk that took part in the demonstrations that took place last December and the shopkeepers that participated in the gatherings of the 2009 “Green Revolution”.

After the US announced that it would be withdrawing from the Iran deal (which is also known as the JCPoA), President Hassan Rohani assured his people that that he had seen this coming and that in his opinion, the economy would not be comatosed as a result. Yet the contrary has taken place: the Iranian currency (the rial) has slumped to half its value and this has caused the price of imported products to skyrocket and unemployment to increase.

So what are people protesting about this time? Principally the tragic drop in the quality of life, an indicator that was quite limited to start with. It seems that now, demonstrators no longer see any difference between Sheikh Hassan Rohani and Guide Ali Khamenei and slate them both. You could also hear slogans slamming the extravagant sums spent on military operations abroad, including for the first time, protests against Iran’s pledge to help their brothers in Palestine.

Translation
Anoosha Boralessa