Unrest has spread across the Islamic Republic as it faces economic disaster at home and a profound weakening of its network of regional allies.
On Friday, the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, threatened to continue cracking down on protesters who have risen up against his regime, calling them “vandals” working for the Americans. Years of Western sanctions and internal mismanagement have caused Iran’s economy to crater; in response to increasing domestic anger, Iran’s government has cut off access to the internet, and protests have been met violently by security forces. (Rights groups have reported dozens of deaths; a doctor told Time magazine that six hospitals in Tehran alone had recorded more than two hundred protester deaths.) The protests are only the latest problem facing Khamenei’s regime, which had much of its leadership assassinated by Israel during a twelve-day war last June. (President Trump also ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear-enrichment sites in June.) Meanwhile, Iran’s network of allies across the Middle East has been severely weakened. In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad fled the country after a revolution, which Iran had helped bloodily pacify, finally achieved its goal. In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s presence and influence have shrunk following Israeli attacks over the past several years.