Anne Applebaum

And so there may be repression going on at a scale that we can't immediately see.

I mean, there are a couple of things that are new about these.

I mean, one is that they come after the Israeli strikes on Iran a few months back, which killed some leaders of the Revolutionary Guard and

gave a lot of Iranians some hope that that would lead to political change, but of course it didn't.

There is also interesting role being played by the son of the late Shah, whose name is being chanted by some of the protesters and who is, please don't take this as read, but some think that he may have some support inside the regime.

There may be a part of the regime that wants him to come back and for there to be some kind of transition and for the Revolutionary Guard to stay in charge.

He was living in Northern Virginia and has studied in the U.S.

and is U.S.

educated and has been an advocate for democracy and political change in Iran all of his life.

Who he's friends with now and what he's doing, I don't know.

But his name is in the mix in a way that it wasn't before.

And it seems to have some traction.

And that's probably the most interesting thing that's happening.

It's a theme to watch over the next few weeks.

I'm sure Iran is full of people saying this is inspired by Israel.

I don't doubt that.

Could Israel be there?

I'm sure they are in some form.

They obviously have some kind of assets inside Iran.

But I don't think they're the primary cause.