ISW: Protests increasing in Iran, regime facing crisis

Iranian Regime incompetence and mismanagement is driving further protest activity and popular frustration toward the regime and may unite citizens with disparate grievances, said the US Institute for the Study of War.

The regime is facing several concurrent crises over its mishandling of economic, ecological, and security issues. The regime is continuing to victimize its people with a range of different problems, stoking anti-regime frustration across many different demographics.

Critical Threats Project (CTP) at the American Enterprise Institute recorded 20 protests across 14 provinces on February 28, 18 of which focused on Iran's deteriorating economic conditions. The extent and scale of these demonstrations supports CTP's previous assessment that protest activity in Iran is rising and returning to levels not seen since the end of 2022, and economic frustrations are driving much of this unrest.

Iranian social media users are framing Iran's ecological issues as another consequence of regime incompetence in response to the death of a critically endangered 10-month-old Asiatic cheetah cub named Pirouz on February 28.

The regime has furthermore failed to protect hundreds of Iranian women going to school in recent months. Hundreds of schoolgirls in at least 10 Iranian cities have experienced poisoning symptoms since late 2022. Victims experience symptoms such as coughing, smelling a "tangerine-like smell," lethargy, numbness, and shaking. Some victims have been hospitalized. Law Enforcement Commander Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Radan announced on February 28 that the Law Enforcement Command (LEC) is investigating these countrywide incidents of chemical poisoning but noted that it had not yet arrested suspected perpetrators. Some social media users have suggested that religious extremists have perpetrated the attack to dissuade Iranian females from obtaining an education.





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