A lot of things have changed tremendously since 1979. The outburst of rebellion these days shows that the boiling point has been reached. Since the 1990’s internally there was a gradually increasing easening. But Ahmadinejad went full steam backwards to the most repressive times of Khomeinism. The educated middle and upper class and the urban youth no longer put up with this backwards trend. Also if there is one thing these sections of society don’t want, it’s another war. They are batshit scared by Ahmadinejad’s attitude towards Israel and the West. Iran went through almost 10 years of total war. They want Ahmadinejad gone, because they fear that he will drag them into the abyss. That’s why they hit the streets now.
BTW there were several attempts to topple the regime since 1979. First 1980 the military tried a coup against the Ayatollah, which failed.
The Iran-Iraq war rallied the people around the flag against Saddam. But in 1998 there were massive student rebellions, which were however crushed.
The current event’s aren’t entirely new. But they apparently have reached critical mass. The youth of Iran and the educated classes aren’t taking anymore of the stoneage mentality of Ahmadinejad.
I thought that might be part of the current situation. My BS meter just went off reading about “the freedom loving people of Iran” again and again.
Fear is a great awakener.