Posted on 11/20/2019 12:31:42 PM PST by Hojczyk
We have discussed the anti-Iran flavor of protests in Lebanon and Iraq. In fact, the ones in Iraq are strongly anti-Iran.
Now, Iran itself is the site of large scale protests. The proximate cause is high fuel prices. The cause of the high prices is, at least in part, U.S. sanctions against Iran.
Protests are said to have broken out in at least 100 cities and towns. Amnesty International says that at least 106 people have been killed, and that the death count may actually be much higher.
The Iranian regime denies that there have been more than a few deaths. It acknowledges only five, and says four of these were suffered by members of security forces. The government has virtually shut down internet access to the rest of the world, making it difficult for insiders to document the regime’s level of violence.
There’s no doubt, though, that the regime is firing live ammunition at protesters. This includes snipers shooting at them from rooftops.
As long as security forces remain loyal to the regime, and willing to shoot civilians, the regime figures to retain power. But the combination of an economic squeeze and widespread government corruption will likely force the regime, over time, to raise its level of violence against the people. One would hope that, over time, these factors will also undermine the regime’s ability to hold the undivided loyalty of the forces that protect it from the people.
(Excerpt) Read more at powerlineblog.com ...
Iran’s protesters hate Iran’s Democratic Party
Biggest domestic unrest in Iran since the Green Revolution in 2009. The Internet has been shut down by the government since Friday, when their 50% price increase on gas set off widespread riots.
Unlike 2009, protests are not concentrated in the Capital city, but distributed all through the country, in over 140 cities. More than 100 banks were burned.
The regime has called up all their basij riot control thugs, and they are getting run ragged. There has been widespread use of lethal force (live ammo), and protestors killed have been subjected to hasty burials, sometimes without informing families. The death toll is believed to be in the hundreds, and include some government security personnel.
“The proximate cause is high fuel prices. The cause of the high prices is, at least in part, U.S. sanctions against Iran”
I seem to recall that Iran is an oil producing country and they have partnered with Russia which also produces oil. This sound like Spin
Soros, or his proxies, seem to have his finger in a lot of pies these days.
More likely, the internet. Iranians like Americans and the American way of life that they see on the Internet. They look at their own lives and wonder why they can’t have the same way of life.
Tinfoil hat, off.
The government in Iran used to get about 90% of its revenue from oil sales. US sanctions against Iranian oil exports ramped up until May of this year, when they jumped to include all exports.
The government budget is in crisis, so they are trying to put large taxes on their public to keep operating. The timing for tax increases could not be worse though, because the value of their currency is crashing (dropped in half over about the last six months), and their economy is crashing in a deep recession - both largely the result of the sanctions.
The average person in Iran has taken a huge loss in lifestyle. Prices for essentials have skyrocketed, while unemployment is surging. The prospects are that worse economic conditions are still to come. In fact, their banking system is a sham, long since plundered of assets by corrupt regime insiders - so a major banking collapse could occur at some point.
The government has murdered members of many families over the years, who carry that grudge.
Someone reported on Twitter that the mullahs all have reserved seats on Iran Air in case things get too hot.
Maybe things have changed since my youth, but in the ‘70s Iran had no refining capability, and had to import refined products. Crude oil is.... crude.
Such events are the only thing the CIA is good at.
The problem is keeping them in their cage.
The price for gas in Iran used to be about 15 cents/gal. It was subsidized.
Today it’s about $1.50/gal.
Sounds like a party. Its gotta be Trump’s fault!
Outstanding! Keep stackin’ ‘em up!
There is crude oil and refined oil. Sanctions can be very well involved with the price increases for the refining process.
I read somewhere that Iran has lost all control in one city with the basji put down and the police station on burned down. Young protestors in charge.
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