The geographical scale of the unrest in provinces, and the harshness of the slogans chanted are unprecedented since the 1979 Iranian revolution. A former political prisoner, Mostafa Tajzadeh, who served many years in jail following the 2009 unrest, was also sceptical, warning that Iran may become another Syria. While the middle class and the elites were behind the 2009 protests, this new wave appears to be led by the working class, which is most affected by the country’s economic woes. “It’s a jigsaw puzzle,” said one commentator who did not want to be identified. On Sunday night, the state-run newspaper Iran was among the first to publish images of protests in Tehran.

Source: The Guardian December 31, 2017 19:06 UTC