Addressing the protests that started in Mashhad, former hard-line parliament member Hamid Rasaei accused media linked to Rouhani of censoring those who are “protesting the current situation.” Mehdi Mohammadi, the former adviser to Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wrote that “protesting against economic difficulties is the right of the people.”
Conservative analyst Vahid Yaminpour tweeted, “It has been reported that the president has called an emergency meeting. I hope that before the security and intelligence ministers give their reports on how to quiet the protesters, the economic ministers will think about how to improve the current situation.”
Earlier, Rouhani’s vice president, Eshaq Jahangiri, alluded to his conservative foes’ having sparked the protests in Mashhad. “Those who took actions against the administration should know that the smoke from their actions will go into their own eyes,” he said. “When street movements are begun, others will ride it, and those who started it will not end it.” More independent-minded conservative analysts have also had a similar analysis. Amir Mohebian told Tasnim News Agency that in Mashhad, the administration’s rivals were involved, but that they had not expected the protests to take on a life of their own.
Administration officials have not been dismissive of the economic grievances, however. Akbar Torkan, a special adviser to Rouhani, discussed the impact of corruption. “One of the important and sensitive issues is corruption,” Torkan said. “Corruption is something that people understand and sense. When they enter a government agency to do something and they realize that unless they give money their work won’t get done, they sense the corruption. Worse than that, when they want to file a complaint about it they realize there is nowhere to file their complaint.”
While the method of mobilization is becoming clear, it is still unknown who, if any person or group, is leading the protests. The absence of a discernible leader has left the authorities unable to point the finger, such as in 2009, beyond the usual accusations blaming foreign intelligence services and hostile states. The speed of the geographical spread of the protests along with the apparent lack of a leader has, according to some accounts, even left some protesters puzzled, let alone most political observers. This could provide an opportunity for a variety of groups to hijack the protests.
Moreover, protester demands do not appear unitary. Chants and slogans vary from criticism of “high prices” to an outright end to the Islamic Republic. To gain a greater grasp of the situation, one important question to consider is that of who precisely is protesting.
Chanting: Reza! Reza Pahlavi!