The biggest wave of protests to hit Iran in almost a decade has backed the country’s leaders into a corner, and the Trump administration is increasing the pressure by threatening fresh sanctions if the government forcefully cracks down on the demonstrations.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, who has been a favorite of the country’s moderates, now finds himself under fire from a young population eager for change. U.S. President Donald Trump waded into that volatile situation on Monday with a strong statement of support for the protesters.
In an early-morning post on Twitter, Mr. Trump said the Iranian people “have been repressed for many years.”
“They are hungry for food & for freedom,” Mr. Trump posted. “Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted. TIME FOR CHANGE!”
In Tehran, a 26-year-old marketing-company employee named Tamana echoed the sentiment as she joined a demonstration Monday. “We are deprived of the simplest things that are a given for people in other countries, both in terms of basic welfare and economic security and of course freedom to express opinions and complaints,” she said, declining to give her last name. She called Mr. Rouhani’s performance on issues relevant to young Iranians “very weak.”
Unrest spread on Monday through central Tehran, where security forces used tear gas and shows of force to disperse crowds, and unverified video showed protests in other parts of the country, including Shadegan, Abadan and Kangavar in western Iran and Isfahan in the center.
At least 12 protesters have reportedly died since the demonstrations began, and a policeman was killed in Najafabad on Monday, according to the semiofficial Mehr news agency. A member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was also killed during clashes near Isfahan by a shotgun blast, Mehr reported Monday, without providing further details. CONTINUE AT SITE
