Who is popular today?

The third outbreak of demonstrations in three years reflects deepening economic woes and a sense of hopelessness
The cycle of protest and vicious repression is grimly familiar in the region. Iran’s five-day internet shutdown helped to ensure that we still know relatively little about this month’s events there. What we do know makes grim reading. Amnesty International says it has credible reports of at least 143 deaths since unrest broke out on 15 November, and that the true total is likely to be significantly higher. It details police firing on crowds and in some cases shooting protesters as they ran away. The regime itself boasts of having made 1,000 arrests; others suggest four times that many may have been detained.
These were widespread protests, reportedly reaching 70% of provinces. They appear to have been more in the mould of those seen in 2017 and 2018 – leaderless, economically driven, and drawing in poorer voters – rather than the more middle-class, urban and political “green movement” of 2009. According to the authorities, around 87,000 people took part, mostly unemployed young men. Continue reading...