What's behind the protests in Iran?

The biggest public display of discontent in Iran since the 2009 Green Movement has brought a series of tweets from US President Donald Trump, driven by the Iranian government and a scene that may have been unimaginable a decade ago by protesters challenging the rule of High Leader Ailet Khamenei.

CNN spoke to some experts about the ongoing riots in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Why are these protests happening?

The protests, which began Thursday evening, are a response to the economy in free collapse, rampant corruption and rising fuel and food prices.

But there's something bigger in the game.

Iranians are angry, experts say, because they expected life to improve when severe sanctions were lifted after an agreement was reached in 2015 between P5 + 1 and Iran on its nuclear programme. P5 + 1 are the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany.

While restrictions on the financial, energy and transport sector were lifted, hundreds of Iranian entities were not removed from the black lists. And the United States has been set in motion to create new sanctions on other violations, including launching missiles last summer.

Trita Parsi, chairman of the American National Council, Iranian and other experts say that mismanagement and political corruption have left Iranians disappointed.

Government policies have brought increased unemployment and inflation. And there is a lack of bold international investments, Parsi added.

The nuclear Agreement is largely supported by the Iranian public, but there has been a hope that it would bring much more economic development”, Parsi said.

So are these protests only because of bread and gas prices?

No. Years of political, economic and social complaints have pushed citizens on the streets into the biggest protests since 2009, said Reza Maraschi, director of research for the American National Council Iranian.

“Economic sanctions have exacerbated all economic problems of Iranian origin”, he said.

I don't think you can separate the economy from politics,” he told CNN. “The government has an opportunity and a responsibility to address the legitimate complaints being expressed”.

Alireza Nader, a senior international analyst and Iranian scholar in Corporation RAND in Washington, says people have also lost confidence in Iranian President Hasan Rouhani.

The government is viewed as very corrupt and the increasing inequality is seen by the population as a form of injustice”, he said, adding that “ky should be a system that gave justice to the people after the 1979 revolution and he failed”.

Karim Sadyadpour, a senior member of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said there is also a push by citizens to ensure equal rights for women.

Nader argued that women in Iran have fought for decades for equal rights, but especially in recent years, this drive has become stronger.

“trats in Iran are highly educated, are involved in the workforce, perhaps more than any other country in the Middle East and are constantly printed.” It is part of their struggle to gain their freedom and rights”, he says.

An Iranian vice president said Saturday that the government would work harder to resolve economic difficulties.

Are these protests similar to those of 2009?

While the new protests are intense, so far they are not as large as those in the 2009 Green Movement, in which millions of people participated.

Maraschi said this could be more a civil rights movement than a revolutionary one.

There are other differences, Sadjadpour said. While the 2009 protests occurred mainly in Tehran, those this week took place at “the government's”, such as Qom and Mashhad, known as strong religious centres.

And this wave of protests seems to be a direct challenge to the rule of the Supreme Leader.

This is something that didn't happen in 2009. That's a big deal to happen in Iran”, said Nic Robertson, CNN's international diplomatic editor. “People do not say this publicly on the street”.

One resident told CNN, who saw a protester tear up a Khamene poster at Tehran University.

Are Trump's tweets helping or damaging the situation?

Consensus by experts: US President Donald Trump's tweets about the situation are not helpful.

Rather, they say, the world should show solidarity with the Iranian people by supporting freedom of expression.

Trump has tweeted “Bota is watching! ” and that “pressive regimes cannot stay permanently” The president said the Iranian leadership is spending wealth in order to finance terrorism elsewhere.

Maraschi said the protest movement “is of Iranian origin and will be with an Iranian end”.

Parsi said the protests are not a US issue. This is not about Trump, and Trump intervention in this story is not necessarily useful, because it has no credibility at all in Iran”.

Comments against the Iranian regime not only may be inappropriate, but they may bring a pretext for counter-mass, Sadjadpour said.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said the Iranian people gave no credit to the remarks “portunistic” by Trump or his administration.

So what should be said or done?

Iranian-American analyst Holly Dagres said the best thing for the rest of the world is to wait and see what will happen next in Iran, while protesters have been heard in videos distributed in social media singing “Death Rouhani”, a reference to President Rouhan.

The fact that we are making statements that we think are in favour of the Iranian people, they harm more than anything else”, she said.

How is this story developing?

As was the case in 2009, images and messages from journalists are coming out through social media. The government controls the media and does not allow freedom of speech.

Several Iranians were killed during the protests late Saturday, a source for CNN said, after the Iranian government warned citizens against holding illegal gatherings “ ”.

Without access to the press, the world is seeing what could be an extreme version of what is happening in Iran. “Independent verifiation of the facts (is) hard to get,” said CNN Robertson.

But images are often powerful.

In 2009, a video showing the recent moments of protester Neda Aga-Soltan restored it to a symbol of the reform movement taking place in Iran. This had a formidable impact on protests in Iran and had a formidable impact on the whole world”, Robertson said.

What's next?

The 2009 green movement lasted for months; this round of protests is only a few days. It is unclear how unpopular the government will allow.

Sadyadpour said: “in 1979, Iranians experienced a revolution without democracy, today they aspire to democracy without a revolution”.

He expanded on that, saying CNN that he believes a new Iranian society is seeking a more liberal and progressive country, but is unlikely to take up arms even if they become available. They oppose a government they know is willing to use force to retain power, he said.

Despite the fact that many Iranians would choose revolutionary measures, I don't think they're willing to follow revolutionary tools to the same degree, for example, like Syrians or Egyptians or others who have done over the last five years in the Middle East”.

But, Sadyadpod tweeted on Friday that even if the protests were destroyed as expected, this is not the end.

“Disillusion to the regime will remain and resurface in the future”.

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