[IRANWIRE] The street protests that have engulfed Iran since Thursday have rocked Iran’s political establishment. Small protests about economic conditions are not uncommon in the country, but these protests were different, quickly moving on to address more general political grievances and spreading to other cities. They are now the largest anti-regime protests since 2009. The demonstrations had started by attacking the reform-focused government of President Hassan Rouhani and his economic policies. In fact, by all indications, they were started by Rouhani opponents belonging to the regime’s hardline conservative faction ‐ but they quickly grew and changed tack, sometimes getting out of hand.Both wings of Iran’s official politics, the Reformists and the Conservatives, have been internally divided over their responses to the street protests. Furthermore, as the protests have spread, their responses have also changed. Initially, many reformists called for the constitutional right to protest to be respected, but many have now moved on to question the motives behind the demonstrations. The conservative opponents of Rouhani, on the other hand, started by supporting the protests as a just reaction to the government’s economic policies but were quick to denounce them later on.
One of the most controversial reactions came from Rouhani’s Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar. "Protest is a right but protesters should know who is guiding them and who their leader is," she tweeted. Ebtekar also posted evidence that people with Twitter accounts linked to Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
and Israel had supported the protests, and also pointed to support from an Iranian self-declared "anti-religion" tweeter based in New York.
Rouhani’s right-hand man, Vice President Eshagh Jahangiri, had earlier led the way by dismissing the protests and denying that the economy is in bad shape. Jahangiri’s reaction was echoed by many, though not all, Rouhani-supporting newspapers in the country.
Iran newspaper, which usually reflects the government’s view, went with the dull headline of "National Understanding for Economic Improvement" and quoted Jahangiri. The reformist Etemad headlined a quote by Jahangiri ‐ "They will be hurt themselves" ‐highlighting the vice president’s warning to his political opponents that the street protests will end up threatening them. Armaane Emrooz, close to the Executives of Construction Party, Jahangiri’s party, adopted a similar headline.
But some pro-Rouhani newspapers backed the protests. Qanoon newspaper went with the headline "People enforce Article 27," highlighting the article in the Iranian constitution that allows protests as far as the marchers are unarmed and don’t "disrupt the foundations of Islam." Qanoon also published an article that said: "Inefficiency of government authorities in solving people’s economic problems has led to protests by a section of society."