Iran protests: 'Death to the dictatorship'
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This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Paul Moss, and in the early hours of Wednesday, the 31st of December, these are our main stories. Iran's government says it will listen to protesters' complaints as demonstrations spread across the country. The US lays sanctions on Iranians and Venezuelans allegedly involved in trading weapons parts and technology. What do we know about the ties between Tehran and Caracas? And Poland considers a bill which would for the first time give official recognition to same-sex couples. Also in this podcast... It's a catastrophe.
Over two million innocent people trapped in the prison that is the Gaza Strip. And now we're seeing aid continue to be obstructed and withheld.
With new warnings about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, aid organisations face being kicked out by Israel from January 1st. It started with shopkeepers. Now Iran's latest protest movement has been taken up by students. Poverty, corruption, tyranny, death to the dictatorship, they chanted in the capital Tehran. But Tuesday saw demonstrations reported at 10 universities across the country. When it comes to facing down protest, Iran's rulers don't usually hold back. The last major movement in 2022 was perhaps typical. Security forces opened fire on crowds. More than 500 people were killed and around 20,000 arrested, according to human rights groups. This time, though, seems very different, with the Iranian president adopting what certainly sounds like a conciliatory tone.
The government should listen to the protesters' legitimate demands, Massoud Pazeshkian said. And the Speaker of Iran's parliament, Mohammad Bakhar Ghalibaf, also seemed in a mood to understand rather than condemn. People's concerns and protests over economic hardships must be responded to with full responsibility and dialogue and taking necessary measures focused on increasing people's purchasing power and reforming the economic decision-making process. So economic hardship, the government seems to acknowledge, is a reality for many, perhaps most Iranians. But the list of grievances has now expanded, as I heard when I spoke to Bachman Kalbassi from the BBC's Persian service.
The trigger is this collapse of currency, but the grievances of the Iranian public against the government and the situation in the country... is long running and it goes across demographics and cities and classes. So as soon as there is a trigger, other grievances come to the surface quite quickly. And usually from the perspective of protesters themselves, And dare I say, a big portion of the Iranian society, it's the leadership's fault and it's their policies that is causing the hardships that they're experiencing. So the chance quickly turn from economic demands to targeting the supreme leader himself and the government, which is what we have seen in the last 48 hours.
The government, the president, certainly do sound unusually conciliatory talking about the need to understand the protesters' concerns. What should we read into that?
We should read into that that they are aware of how fragile the situation is and how terrible the economic conditions are. And there is worry, obviously, that if this spreads, that controlling it and containing it may need the kind of brutal force that they have used before. But it will be harder to use this time around, given Iran's isolation and general political situation in the country.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–7:54
2
What are the reasons behind the recent protests in Iran?
7:54–8:38
3
What sanctions has the US imposed on Iran and Venezuela?
8:38–9:25
4
What is the significance of Poland's proposed civil union bill?
9:25–11:44
5
How are aid organizations affected by new Israeli rules in Gaza?
11:44–14:25
6
What innovative approaches are researchers exploring to tackle homelessness?
14:25–14:43
7
What impact does direct cash assistance have on homeless individuals?
14:43–15:59
8
How is the Iranian government responding to the protests?
15:59–32:21
Speakers
7 identifiedMore from Global News Podcast
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