Unrest in Iran

The street rebellion in Iran may have died down to some extent but the causes that provoked the unrest still remain there, making a case for an alarming situation in the country. The brave protestors have virtually put the government on notice that the legitimate demands and aspirations of the people come first. The protests that erupted in Mashhad—Iran’s second most populous city after Tehran—spread to dozens of other cities with protestors (in thousands) decrying economic hardships, high unemployment and inflation, and alleged corruption of officials. The Iranians believe that the worsening economic situation of the country was due to flawed foreign policy of their government. Raising slogans like “Death to Rouhani”, “Forget Palestine”, “Not Gaza, not Lebanon, my life for Iran”, the protestors expressly demonstrated their anger against Tehran’s involvement regional conflicts. Predictably, Iran’s political and religious leadership dismissed the protests as foreign sponsored and an attempt to weaken the country. The government responded with brute force killing over 20 people and arresting hundreds others. Iran’s declared enemies—to say Saudi Arabia, Israel and the US—may well try and foment trouble inside Iran, but it is the legitimate grievances of the Iranian people that created the space for outside interference. Iran, in its hunger for becoming a regional power in the middle-east, forgot its own people and the problems they are facing and instead used its resources to instigate trouble in neighboring countries. Iran’s financial and arms support to Houthi terrorists in Yemen and other attempts to cause unrest in Saudi Arabia, at the cost of its own people, cannot be discounted from the reasons that provoked the Iranian to hit streets. Iran’s outright support to the Syrian Alwi ruler Bashar al Assad has exposed the country’s real face. Iran rulers and their religious cleric have revealed that on sectarian issues they are on the same page. Nothing more could be outrageous than Iran calling Bashar al Assad’s success against rebels as “Fateh-e-Mubeen” and ‘victor of Islam over pagans”. This is the extreme degree of venom that a sect could pour against those who do not subscribe to their religious beliefs. A huge number of liberal Sunni Muslims had a sympathetic view of Iran, who believed that Iran had the capability and accommodation to lead the Muslim world. But the country’s condemnable role in Syrian war made them change their perception. Syria is a Sunni-majority State with over 80% population of Sunnis. Shia are as less as 3% while rest (17%) are Alwis. Alwis are breakaway believers of Shias who have been declared outlaw by Shia mainstream for their blasphemous, illogical and unfounded beliefs regarding the Quran, great Prophet of Islam (Hazrat Mohammad s.a.w) and his family. Iran still found Alwi follower Bashar al Assad closer to their heart. The Shiite militia from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and other surrounding states ganged together up with active support from Russian and Iranian armies against the Sunni controlled Aleppo and got over the city after rendering it into ruins. One had expected that Iran, in the light of its claims of being an Islamic nation, playing a humane and civilized role in helping resolve the crisis. But in the ultimate analysis Iran proved as party to the brutality and savagery perpetrated on Syrian people. There are reports that Iran is trying to fan Shiite uprising in Bahreen also. The Shiite supporters in Bahreen are provoked to take to arms in the otherwise quiet oil rich city. Yemen is already in flames. Iran is an active supporter of Shiite Yemeni rebels. With “victory” in Syria, Iran and its Shiite supporters have got encouraged and they are weighing options of instigating trouble in other areas as well. This is seen as Iran’s ambition to be seen as supper Shiite power in the world. But this is not going to help Iran to establish its writ anywhere. Iran’s obscurant Shiite view would ultimately tell upon its size and stature in the world. It would have also far-reaching consequences among different religious sections.