The current reformist Prime Minister Hassan Rouhani won nationwide elections in 2013 on the promise that he would improve the economic situation in the country by reaching some sort of win-win agreement with the US and the West.
The Rouhani Government finally signed an agreement with P5+1 in 2015 in which America pledged to lift sanctions gradually. However, the victory of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in American elections proved to disastrous for the agreement.
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Trump backed by the Israeli lobby took a tough stand against Iran and vowed to re-impose even more sanctions on Iran citing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and role in regional conflicts. Thus, the lifting of sanctions by the Obama administration never really transformed into the economic growth.
Experts view the recent spike in protests in major cities of the Islamic Republic as a public reaction to the crippling economic situation that Iranian public has to face. The protestors allege that even the withdrawal of some sanctions by the Obama administration after the Iran-US agreement did not bring any improvement that Iranians expected due to the massive amount of corruption at the bureaucratic level.
The Transparency International which keeps on eye on corruption across the world has ranked Iran 133 out of total 176 countries on the corruption perception index scale.
Major points that people are protesting against are:
1. Unemployment: Protestors are protesting against the increasing unemployment ratio in the country. The current unemployment ratio in Iran is12 percent and there is every possibility that the ratio will increase due to expected additional sanctions from Trump administration. In Iran, four out of every ten young people are jobless, which is alarming.
2. High inflation rate: Public is experiencing a very high inflation rate and an example of this is the increase in Price of eggs over a few days. Eggs' prices have increased more than 40 percent in last few days.
3. Less focus on the economic front at home and more involvement in foreign military conflicts such as Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine etc. The public is saying that taxpayers money has been spent on the conflicts in these war zones.
4. No relations with the western world: The Iranian policy of having a tough stand on many issues has made it a bitter adversary for the US and the West. The Western companies cannot an investment in Iran due to the tough sanctions that American administration has imposed on Iran. No western investment means fewer jobs and low economic activity.
Who is blaming whom?
Most of the officials of the Rouhani Government including the first Vice President of Iran, Eshaq Jahangiri, have blamed establishment and hardline clergy for the spark in protests, whereas, the hardliners are blaming America, Israel, and Saudi Arabia for sponsoring violent protests across Iran.
Conclusion
Putting the regional conflicts aside the Iranian government should focus to improve the economic situations in the country. The government should strive to provide youth with jobs because they form a major chunk of the Iranian population. Similarly, inflation rate should be reduced and investment from the western world should be welcomed.
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