The massive new protests in Iran

The massive new protests in Iran, explained At least 20 people have died, and the protests show no signs of stopping. Iran is being rocked by its biggest wave of protests in nearly a decade. Since December 28, tens of thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets in huge numbers of towns and cities to demand freedom from their theocratic government. At least 20 people have since been killed in clashes with security forces, and hundreds of mostly young people have been arrested, per news reports. The demonstrations began as small gatherings protesting a slow economy in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city; over the past week they’ve morphed into a wave of major demonstrations in which ordinary Iranians are often heard calling for a revolution against the country’s theocratic government. But this massive movement — one with the potential to reshape the Middle East — has a pretty mundane cause. “It started over a protest over the price of eggs, believe it or not,” says Hussein Banai, a professor at Indiana University who studies Iran. Read more https://www.vox.com/world/2018/1/3/16841310/iran-protests-2018