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HomeNEWSIRAN NEWS247 Demonstrations, 90 Cities, 14 Days: Iran’s Upheaval

247 Demonstrations, 90 Cities, 14 Days: Iran’s Upheaval

How the most significant bout of unrest in nearly a decade spread from a single city to shake the country

 

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 19, 2018 – This exclusive account of 14 days of unrest in Iran reveals at least 247 protests rallies across 90 cities. The protests were fueled by working-class grievances, and they swept through provincial cities and towns. But Tehran didn’t see massive marches that it did during the 2009 Green Movement.

 

Day 1: The First Protest Erupts
Thousands of people took to the streets on Dec. 28 in Mashhad, Iran’s second-most-populous city. People demonstrated against high prices and failing financial institutions.

 

Day 2: Global Attention
“Many reports of peaceful protests by Iranian citizens fed up with regime’s corruption & its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad. Iranian govt should respect their people’s rights, including right to express themselves. The world is watching! #IranProtests”
— U.S. President Donald Trump began tweeting in support of the protesters as unrest spread.

 

Day 3: The First Deaths
Two people died during protests in the western city of Dorood, the first deaths linked to the unrest. Marchers’ complaints about economic woes quickly morphed into calls for the ouster of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
 

 

 Iranian students clashed with riot police at Tehran University

Iranian students clashed with riot police at Tehran University.

 

Day 4: The Government Reacts
Iranian authorities moved to block the messaging app Telegram, which people were using to share information about protests, and shut down some internet connections for mobile phones.
Iranians tore a poster of President Hassan Rouhani in Bandar Abbas.

 

Day 5: Rouhani Acknowledges Grievances
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani—who had previously said that people have the right to protest, but that vandals wouldn’t be tolerated—pledged to work to address economic problems that spurred the unrest.

  

 

Rouhani, center, said, “The problems of people are not only economic, but they also demand more freedom.”

Rouhani, center, said, “The problems of people are not only economic, but they also demand more freedom.”

 

Day 6: The Death Toll Rises
Khamenei said the upheaval was the work of Iran’s enemies in his first public remarks since the outbreak of the protests. The death toll from the unrest climbed above 20, amid an intensifying government crackdown.
Protests in Tuyserkan turned into violent clashes with security forces.

 

Day 7: Counterprotest
Pro-regime demonstrations spread as posts on social media urged government employees to participate in the rallies.

 

Day 8: Detained
Amnesty International reported that more than 1,000 people had been arrested during the unrest.
Protesters in Aligudarz chanted, “Khamenei shame on you, let go of the country.”

 

Day 9: Prayer Day
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, who leads Friday prayers in Tehran, called the protesters “enemies of Islam and Iran,” according to media reports.
At an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council called at the request of the U.S., many diplomats, including Washington allies, expressed concerns about overtly supporting protests.
 

 

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami spoke during the Friday prayer ceremony at the Imam Khomeini mosque in Tehran 

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami spoke during the Friday prayer ceremony at the Imam Khomeini mosque in Tehran.

 

Day 10: Security Tightens
Protests appeared to lose momentum as security forces deployed in large numbers to keep demonstrations in check.
Amid protests in Tehran, an Iranian woman appeared to shout, “Let them arrest me.”

 

Day 11: The IRGC claims end to protests
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a force answerable only to Mr. Khamenei, said the unrest had been quelled and blamed the U.S., the U.K., Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iranian dissidents for causing it.

 

Day 12: A Conciliatory Tone
Mr. Rouhani struck a conciliatory tone with protesters, saying that Iranians’ concerns went beyond the economy and calling for lifting blocks on social media.

 

Day 13: The Fate of Detainees
Hundreds of people gathered outside Tehran’s Evin prison and demanded the release of detainees.
Protesters outside of Evin Prison in Tehran chanted, “Free the political prisoners.”

 

Day 14: The Protests Ebb
After two weeks that took Iranians—and the world—by surprise, the protests had largely petered out by Jan. 10. But the problems that helped spark the protests remained, including double-digit inflation, high unemployment and widespread corruption.

 

247 Demonstrations
All told, people took to the streets in at least 90 cities across the country, showing the depth of economic discontent and how far and fast challenges to the regime can spread.

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