The protests in Iran are spreading.
There have been numerous protests over the years in Iran, but there are indications in this one that are giving many great hope, as we enter a new year.
Demonstrations over the country’s economic crisis erupted in Tehran, the capital, on Sunday after the Iranian rial plunged to a record low against the dollar, forcing the head of the central bank to resign.
The protests soon morphed into wider outbursts against Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, and his draconian restrictions on women, with students and shopkeepers demonstrating in a rare alliance against the government.
It's that last part that's perhaps most instructive. It's spread to various levels of society, including the students and shopkeepers. That's what happened in 1979, with the revolution that brought the mullahs to power.
It was the shopkeepers in Tehran who appear to have started it now; they closed their shops, and now others in areas around the country have done so as well. With over 50 percent inflation, how can anyone deal with that? But it's also the draconian policies, and the people have had enough.
It's pretty amazing that a woman is leading men among the shops, saying, "Don't be afraid, we are all together!"
I mentioned the students. Students at Tehran University were reportedly in conflict with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and they reportedly forced them out.
On Tuesday, Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) in plain clothes trapped students who were chanting “freedom” and “death to the dictator” inside Tehran University and attacked them. It is not known how many were injured. [....]
Nafas, a student at Tehran University, told The Telegraph: “Students have been chanting since last night. They [security forces] surrounded the campus last night and rode their motorcycles around it – they returned today with batons, stun guns, and tear gas.
“Students clashed with them and forced them out, but the gates are now closed. Students at many universities have said they will not attend classes and will continue protesting. What’s the point of studying when there is no future, and the regime gives our money to Gaza and Lebanon?”
Notice that last part. That's a comment on the fact that they don't like their money going to prop up the actions in Gaza and Lebanon. But there's ongoing action there.
It's also spread to other universities.
Female students in at least one university removed their mandatory headscarves, waved them in the air, and called for Khamenei’s death, while others compared the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to Islamic State.
Here's a post of a Bild reporter, asking where the left, why are they not supporting these female students who have ripped off their head scarves, waving them around, yelling, "You [the regime] are a slut, I am a free woman."
That is courage.
I mentioned protesters drove back security forces in my post yesterday about the protests, but we now have clearer pictures. It happened on Jomhouri Street, a major boulevard in Tehran. This is bravery. They are so fed up that they began kicking them and throwing things at them as they drove them away.
Since the protests started on Sunday, they have spread around the country.
[They were ]well outside the capital, including on the Persian Gulf island of Qeshm and in the western cities of Zanjan and Hamedan. And on Tuesday, videos showed that protests had spread to other major cities, including Kermanshah, Shiraz, Yazd and Isfahan.
Here they are ripping down a gate to a government building in Fasa.
There were also reports of the police firing at people in Fasa and in Kuhdasht.
It appears to be growing, despite reports of arrests of protesters.
We'll keep you updated. All good wishes to these brave people if they are finally able to free Iran. A free Iran would make for a better world.