The government crackdown has begun, with social media being restricted and protestors being killed.

I guess we will find out in the next few days/weeks/months if this plays out similarly to what happened in the Arab world a few years ago or not.

Protest locations so far:

I am confused on what side the Politics board will be on.

If Trump is rooting for the protesters...

ya, quite a riddle. I mean, imagine the immense intellect required to see through such a fog.

You will undoubtedly be confused by a great many things in life.

Awval would absolutely base his support for the protestors based on Hillary Clinton's response to them if she were president and this is him demonstrating he is incapable of understanding that other people are not like him in how they think.

Wait, awval really didnt know that people can form their own opinions on events, rather than wait for their political opposition to take a side then go with the opposite?

Historically foreign relations is one of the least partisan political issues. The whole "everything a D president does is bad" is something unique to the last 8 years.

to be real for a quick second, awval is clearly just legit astounded as to why we hate trump. he thinks its simply bc hes a republican. but no, the main thing that we hate and fight against with trump is his authoritarian and oppressive desires and tendencies. that is, the exact main characteristics of the iranian regime.

we are against the iranian regime bc they are very much like how trump is trying to run this country.

as hes admitted, that is extremely confusing to awval. but to me, it is extremely confusing how any sentient being who is aware of american politics can be confused like awval.

lol let's not forget the Trump Justice Department brought felony charges against 234 inauguration protesters, in most cases for being present in an area where crimes were committed. The hypocrisy is as ever totally transparent.

and those Erdogan thugs got off scot free for beating the **** out of protesters

Trump's always had some beef with Iran. It's just surprising that he'd single out that specific country in his Muslim ban when none of the terrorists attacking America were Iranian. Now he's bringing protests going on there to light.

Anyway, I don't know about the politics behind these protests. I guess the leader of Iran is a dick or something.

it's kinda strange they look smaller but probably more widespread than 2009. and the messages seem more diffuse.

i dont think anything is going to happen and the government will just ride it out, but they have obviously tapped into something.

im not sure revolution-ish is really what we should be hoping for either. but adding some pressure could be good.

also if i was more conspiracy-minded i would consider whether some american cash played a role in the weird way they seem to have started.

Yeah I wouldn't be shocked if America is trying to initiate regime change through financing anti-government forces within Iran. Seems like SOP for American foreign policy.

And he longs for the days when demonstrators like those at Trump rallies can be carried out on stretchers.

it's obviously hard to say how much of this happens and to what degree it would be a good/bad idea. the us maybe/probably played a role in the fall of milosevic and that was mostly a good thing.

it wouldnt be terribly surprising if trump and some of the hawks decided to throw some money at the idea. it's more a question of do they have the ability to be (part) catalyst for something this big (i doubt it) and will this really change anything (i doubt it)

nah, we're too busy interfering in the russian election ldo

Lol. Yo Awval, the people who have spent the last 9 years taking positions on public policy based solely on the fact that it was the opposite of what their political opponents supported, were your people, the deplorables and the rest of the right. Republican leadership explicitly stated this and you were so shook by the fact that a black man was President you fell in line, too. You then elected the most patently unfit person to ever hold the presidency and probably one of the most corrupt men to hold it as well, simply to troll the left. Now you come in here with the nerve to project those motives on posters in here?

Happy New Year.

Lol the one and only awfal ladies and gentlemen.

It's almost like he just says whatever the **** pops into his head and he doesn't actually have firm positions on things.

I'm woefully uninformed as to the current going on in Iran. Any good over view or cliffs out there? I read guests of the Ayatollah a few years ago, that's about the extent of my knowledge on Iran.

The protests appear to be primarily economically motivated. There‘s high unemployment and inflation. The messaging seems to be all over the place. Some blame the government and especially it‘s middle east meddling because sanctions are crippling the economy.

Hey awval, tell us your views on how Daddy Orange is OK with protests in Iran but not here in America.

Like, do you understand Daddy wants less freedom in the US than a country such as Iran with what he's saying?

Instead, you sit there and smirk while like "LOLZ libtards. Jokes on you."

Republicans definitely want to go to war with Iran; Trump is helping setting the stage for why and to get away with it like the neighbor. Obv he dgaf about protestors, it's just using them like he does everyone else.

This one showed up in my newsfeed. Found it to be pretty good.

https://qz.com/1168901/everything-yo...tests-in-iran/

Couple things though:

(1) NYTimes and others have reported that the two protesters were killed by Iranian forces and apparently there is video of them shooting at protesters, although maybe not the specific protesters who died.

(2) Some protesters were also mad about government money being used to support Palestine. Only support for Syria (Assad) and Lebanon are mentioned in the article.

From my own sampling of articles and videos, I notice that representatives for the Iranian government consistently lean hard on the explanation that the US is responsible for protests by harming the economy with sanctions and enflaming people with deceitful media that make the current protests seem like a much bigger movement than is actually occuring. To what degree this is accurate, I can't say, but it is a good strategy for the government, and Trump's tweets play right into it. His "support" must be dispiriting for the protesters.