488. Is Iran on the Edge of Revolution?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Thanks for listening to The Rest Is Politics. To support the podcast, listen without the adverts and get early access to episodes and live show tickets, go to therestispolitics.com. That's therestispolitics.com. What we're seeing now is some very significant protests and very, very significant crackdown.
You had 200 separate protests taking place in almost all the provinces of Iran. And the regime then has responded with blackouts. People have started to be killed in large numbers.
I think it's gone in a pretty grim direction.
These regimes are completely secure, totally in place, until in an instant, they're suddenly out.
This will only lead to regime change and the collapse of the regime if it goes on for months and months and months.
boy, is it something that could literally collapse in the next hour, or they could still be in place in a year's time.
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What are the reasons behind the recent protests in Iran?
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How has the Iranian regime responded to the protests?
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Welcome to the Restless Politics with me, Rory Stewart. And with me, Alistair Campbell. And we're going to have a bit of a Middle Eastern day, I think, today, Rory. We're going to talk about Iran and we're going to talk about Yemen. I feel bad, actually, we haven't talked about Iran more before this because you sort of sense something really big was happening. But it's so hard actually to find out the truth about what's happening inside Iran. But I think what we're seeing now is some very significant protests and especially today, I think, and yesterday, very, very significant crackdown.
Absolutely. For people who have not been concentrating minute by minute on what's happening in Iran, essentially on the 28th of December, a series of protests began in the bazaars of Tehran, essentially around the fact that the gas prices had gone up. and the currency had collapsed. Bank governor resigned.
What factors could lead to regime change in Iran?
And then from the 2nd of January onwards, it began to really spread. So by about the 6th, you had 200 separate protests taking place in almost all the provinces of Iran. And the regime then has responded with blackouts. people have started to be killed in large numbers. Trump has now said repeatedly that if the regime continues to kill, he will be intervening with military strikes. And a lot of this is now associated with the figurehead of the son of the previous Shah of Iran, the Crown Prince from the United States, who to many people's astonishment, particularly mine, is now appearing on more and more signs of young Iranians, particularly protesting against the regime. And the question, I guess, that we're going to be getting into is what does this mean?
What's going to happen? I'm speaking to this slightly anonymous hotel room that I'm in. In fact, I'm in Damascus in Syria where you and I were last year. So I'm in a way thinking a lot about this because the reason we were here last year is is that the Bashar al-Assad regime, he and his father had been in place since the 1970s, collapsed. And the question, I guess, in Iran is, is the same going to happen there? So to remind people, the Shah of Iran, who was a pretty autocratic human rights abusing ruler, but who was on the American side, was toppled by an Iranian revolution in 1979.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:51
2
What are the reasons behind the recent protests in Iran?
0:51–1:16
3
How has the Iranian regime responded to the protests?
1:16–2:43
4
What factors could lead to regime change in Iran?
2:43–14:23
5
What role does external intervention play in Iran's situation?
14:23–23:34
6
How do the protests in Iran compare to past uprisings?
23:34–41:26
Speakers
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