Iranian Protestors Take It to the Streets Chanting ‘Death to Palestine’

A group of protesters chant slogans at the main gate of old grand bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 25, 2018. Protesters in the Iranian capital swarmed its historic Grand Bazaar on Monday, news agencies reported, and forced shopkeepers to close their stalls in apparent anger over the Islamic Republic's troubled economy, months after similar demonstrations rocked the country. (Iranian Labor News Agency via AP)
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You’ll find many more videos of the latest protests at this Twitter account, in what the Daily Caller‘s Adam Kredo is calling “just the latest in social unrest” as Iranians “express frustration over the plunging value of Iran’s currency, the rial, and Iranian leadership’s continued funding of regional terror groups and military operations in Syria on behalf of embattled President Bashar al-Assad.”

This comes on the same day that Thomas Erdbrink, writing for the New York Times, claimed that “Iran Is Changing, but Not in Ways Trump Thinks.” Erdbrink quotes Hossein Sheikholeslam from Iran’s foreign ministry claiming, “Trump has this illusion that because he left the nuclear agreement, we are forced to change our behavior in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. No way we are doing that. If we ever change our policies, it will have nothing to do with Trump or anyone in the White House or elsewhere.”

Would “elsewhere” include the streets of Tehran and other major cities? Perhaps, as that same story quotes NDA Middle East expert Walter Posch with a clearer assessment of the mullahs’ overreach. He told the Times, “Tehran is becoming overstretched. Iran thought it could hold the ground easily: getting strong in Syria, putting pressure on Israel indirectly but not provoking it to attack. But it is getting more difficult by the day.”

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And let’s not forget that Trump does get partial credit — or blame, depending on your point of view — for Iran’s financial woes. The Wall Street Journal ran a report earlier today headlined “King Dollar Tightens Noose on Iranian Economy.” Reporters Benoit Faucon and Sarah McFarlane lead with: “Foreign banks that kept Iran trading oil through previous sanctions are pulling out under pressure from the latest round of U.S. restrictions, hitting a lifeline for the Iranian economy,” and that “even banks with no direct U.S. exposure are refusing to deal with Tehran, fearing that they will be cut out of the dollar-based global financial system.” The pinch is real enough that the American Enterprise Institute’s Dalibor Rohac calls sanctions “a path to victory for Trump on Iran.”

So it might be unwise to say that the White House has nothing to do with any future changes to Iran’s aggressive and expansionist foreign policy.

What remains to be seen is if President Trump will lend more moral support to anti-regime protestors. Back in January Trump tweeted, “Iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration. The great Iranian people have been repressed for many years. They are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted. TIME FOR CHANGE!” That compares favorably to the cold shoulder President Obama gave Iranian protestors in 2009, even after a regime sniper murdered a girl in the street as caught on camera in this famous shock video.

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Given the ruthlessness of the mullahs’ regime, you have to admire the protestors’ bravery — and you might also ask what mor, other than just tweets, we might offer to assist them.

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