Inflation and corruption at heart of Iran demonstrations, says former student protester
What started as a small protest over the rising cost of food has grown to unrest in towns and villages across Iran.
The protests have been ongoing since Thursday and several people have been killed. Iranian state media reported that protesters have attempted to take over military bases and police stations.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that demonstrations are lawful, but access to photo sharing app Instagram and messaging service Telegram was cut across the country on Sunday.
Bahman Kalbasi, correspondent with BBC Persian and a former student protester from Iran, spoke with As It Happens guest host Helen Mann what he's heard from protesters.
What sense are you getting from the protesters that you have spoken with about the mood in Iran right now?
There is an explosion of dissatisfaction that has existed for a long while. What we are seeing is the nature of the protests. Its roots in terms of the kind of parts of the country that it's touching and the priorities are different from the ones that middle-class, urban-class crowd was involved with in 2009.
That one [was] probably much larger in numbers in big cities because I do remember the June 15, 2009 [protest] — which is basically the biggest protest post-Iranian revolution — drew something around two to three million people to streets of Tehran.
This one is very different. It's sporadic in smaller cities spread across the country and the demands are economic. People who are poorer than ... the urban population.
But it quickly turned political because the slogans against the supreme leader and the entire system are even more direct and challenging than the 2009, [protest], which had a more defined political structure.
But it didn't begin politically, as you say. It's about economic dissatisfaction. What are the conditions that people are upset about?
Everything from inflation all the way to corruption in terms of a system that is corrupt and easily manipulated by the rich and by the well-connected.
You mention President Rouhani, who is seen as a moderate. We have a clip we want to play:
President Hassan Rouhani in a televised address, Dec. 31, 2017: "In recent days, we have witnessed some protests. Everyone must be aware at this point that we are a free nation and according to the constitution and human rights, the people are absolutely free to criticize the government and even protest. But the protests should be done in such a way as to aim at the improvement of the country."
So, he says that on the one hand. On the other, we've seen a number of people killed, hundreds arrested. They've shut down a messaging app called Telegram that's very popular in Iran. So given all of this, are President Rouhani's statements helping?
Well, he's trying to strike this balance now saying the population has the right to protest. But at the same time, don't burn public property; keep it lawful.
In Iran, we have actually a joke about it. We say, "You're free to express your opinion ... but you're not going to be free after you express it."
He is now reacting to a reality that people have ignored the restrictions on protest … and he's worried about the basic project that he's a leading figure in — and that is slow reform toward a better place. Most of these people have lost faith or patience that he can deliver any time soon.
As a former Iranian student protester yourself — one who was arrested — can you just share with us the more visceral response you might be having to all of this? I mean, does it resonate for you in a personal way, what you're seeing?
Absolutely. I mean, we have lived through one big massive protest movement in 2009. It is hopeful to see so many millions of Iranians across the country are still looking for ways to express themselves and have not been deterred by this oppression. And at the same time, [it's] very worrying whether or not the kind of clash that happened in Syria ... can be repeated in Iran.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. To hear the full interview with Bahman Kalbasi, listen using the player above.