Iran has recently faced the largest wave of popular protest since the Green Movement of 2009, mainly focused on economic stagnation but also bleeding into more political issues of foreign policy, personal freedoms, and human rights. The rising wave of discontent is pushing the government to make some concessions. Just yesterday, the regime's security council approved the release of opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, leaders of the 2009 protest movement, from house arrest after seven years. This move illustrates the regime's unease with the rising pressure from the streets, but also shows that it has some tools...
