Speaker 1: Already and this is the Daily This is the Dahlias.
Speaker 1: Oh now it makes sense.
Speaker 2: Good morning, and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Tuesday,
Speaker 2: the thirteenth of January. I'm Zara Sidler, I'm Emma Gillespie.
Speaker 2: Irani is experiencing its largest anti government protests in years,
Speaker 2: with demonstrations spreading across more than one hundred cities and
Speaker 2: reports suggesting hundreds have been killed in a violent crackdown
Speaker 2: by authorities. What began as economic protests have evolved into
Speaker 2: a mass movement calling now for the overthrow of Iran's leadership,
Speaker 2: raising questions about regional stability and potential international intervention. In
Speaker 2: today's podcast, m we're going to explain how these protests
Speaker 2: first started, what's happened since, and why they are so significant.
Speaker 3: Zara, this is of course a really complicated but important story,
Speaker 3: and I think with any news headline such as this
Speaker 3: from this part of the world, there's important context that
Speaker 3: we need.
Speaker 1: So let's start from the beginning.
Speaker 3: Can you take us back to what sparked these protests
Speaker 3: in the first place.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely so. Demonstrations began on the twenty eighth of
Speaker 2: December last year, So just a few weeks ago, and
Speaker 2: the origin of these protests is really economic. They started
Speaker 2: when shopkeepers in Tehran began protesting after Iran's currency hit
Speaker 2: an all time low. Just a day later we had
Speaker 2: the head of the Central Bank of Iran resign and
Speaker 2: then days after that, inflation figures showed that Iran's inflation
Speaker 2: had reached fifty two point six percent in December.
Speaker 1: Wow, really high.
Speaker 2: I mean, for reference for listeners, Australia's inflation rate in
Speaker 2: November was three point four percent. And so these protests
Speaker 2: started as economic in nature. They were really driven by
Speaker 2: shopkeepers who are known to be quite big supporters of
Speaker 2: the Iranian leadership, or traditionally have been. But since they've started,
Speaker 2: they've really grown in nature and they've now become about
Speaker 2: protesting the Iranian Islamic regime as a whole.
Speaker 3: Okay, so there's initially this economic unrest that turns into
Speaker 3: political unrest and protests that have now grown significantly. But
Speaker 3: before we get into the political side of that, I
Speaker 3: think it'd be helpful to explain a little bit about
Speaker 3: how Iran's system of governance works. You've mentioned there that
Speaker 3: traditionally retailer's shopkeepers have supported that government. But can you
Speaker 3: explain the system itself.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I do think that that's a good place to start,
Speaker 2: because it is quite complicated. So Iran has been an
Speaker 2: Islamic republic since a revolution in nineteen seventy nine. So
Speaker 2: on the back of a popular uprising, Iran's US backed
Speaker 2: monarchy that was the Shah was overthrown and instead a
Speaker 2: conservative religious leader at the time, Ayatolla Khmani, became the
Speaker 2: country's Supreme leader, and so that was a very big change.
Speaker 2: Iran prior to the revolution had been fairly westernized. As
Speaker 2: I said, the US was fairly involved. But after and
Speaker 2: post nineteen seventy nine that really changed. The regime under
Speaker 2: the Ayatola opposed the westernization of Iran and imposed a
Speaker 2: conservative Islamic morality on the country. It established the Morality Police,
Speaker 2: so that did things like imposed rules around behavior and
Speaker 2: dressed standards for example. And then in nineteen eighty nine,
Speaker 2: the former Supreme leader died and he was replaced by
Speaker 2: Ayatola ale Khmani, who is still in power today at
Speaker 2: the age of eighty six. And so today we have Kimiani,
Speaker 2: who has oversight over most aspects of Iranian life and
Speaker 2: Iranian decision making, though there is also a president who
Speaker 2: sits under the Supreme Leader. So there is a government,
Speaker 2: but then there is the religious rule of I run
Speaker 2: and that is the Republic of Iran.
Speaker 3: Okay, So that political structure that was imposed in nineteen
Speaker 3: seventy nine exists today, one of.
Speaker 1: Islamic conservative religious law.
Speaker 3: You said, the protests have grown to become about this
Speaker 3: regime at large. So what started as an economic protest
Speaker 3: has evolved into being more political.
Speaker 1: What do you mean by that?
Speaker 2: Yes, So if the nucleus was this economic unrest, it's
Speaker 2: sort of just broadened into this mass discontent, this mass
Speaker 2: movement against Iran's leadership. And so now we have protesters,
Speaker 2: as I said at the top, across one hundred cities
Speaker 2: participating in demonstrations to try and call for the overthrow
Speaker 2: of Iran's leadership. Protesters have been reportedly chanting things like
Speaker 2: death to Hamani and death to the dictator, as well
Speaker 2: as messages of support for the ousted monarchy that I
Speaker 2: told you about before. Shah now Reza Pahlavi, who is
Speaker 2: the son of Iran's former Shah, has been very vocal
Speaker 2: throughout this time. He has urged protesters to keep going,
Speaker 2: and in a post on social media, he said the
Speaker 2: goal is to prepare to seize and hold city centers.
Speaker 2: So he is in exile, he is not in Iran,
Speaker 2: but even then he's calling for this movement. He's calling
Speaker 2: for this uprising to continue. I do just want to add,
Speaker 2: in case people feel like they are familiar with this
Speaker 2: idea of protests in Iran, that there were very sizeable
Speaker 2: protests back in twenty twenty two that happened after a
Speaker 2: twenty two year old woman, Masa Amini was killed by
Speaker 2: the regimes morality police for not wearing her hijab. And
Speaker 2: while those mass protests I would say focused on the
Speaker 2: morality police and on women's rights, these protests are now
Speaker 2: really just targeting the regime at large and its stability.
Speaker 3: Really yeah, I'm sure a lot of our listeners would
Speaker 3: remember the Masa Amini protests and that might have been
Speaker 3: the first time any young audiences here in Australia learnt
Speaker 3: about the regime At the time, the response was a
Speaker 3: violent one.
Speaker 1: Given we are.
Speaker 3: Now seeing a new wave of significant anti government protests,
Speaker 3: how has the response been from Iran, from Iranian officials
Speaker 3: on the ground this time.
Speaker 2: Yes, so like last time, there has been a violent
Speaker 2: crackdown on protesters. I will just say before I talk
Speaker 2: about death tolls, that it is very difficult to ascertain
Speaker 2: a single death toll. That's for a number of reasons,
Speaker 2: and I'll get into why in a moment. But one source,
Speaker 2: the Human Rights Activists News Agency, has said that at
Speaker 2: least five hundred people have been killed since the protests began,
Speaker 2: with more than ten thousand people arrested. Again, we're talking
Speaker 2: about a two week window here, But the reason that
Speaker 2: we can't really get a lot of information is because
Speaker 2: local authorities last Thursday cut off all internet access and
Speaker 2: phone lines in the country, and so essentially Iran has
Speaker 2: been cut off from the rest of the world, and
Speaker 2: among a host of things, that has meant that we
Speaker 2: aren't getting a whole lot of reliable information from the ground.
Speaker 2: And so I would just say that there is a
Speaker 2: lot of different reporting on those death tolls, and with
Speaker 2: Iranian authorities not confirming a single toll, it's difficult to
Speaker 2: really verify that number. But we have heard from the
Speaker 2: Center for Human Rights in Iran, that's a group based
Speaker 2: in New York, who said in a statement, a massacre
Speaker 2: is unfolding the world must act now to prevent further
Speaker 2: loss of life. We've had Iran's president call the protesters
Speaker 2: rioters and terrorists who behead and kill people, while we've
Speaker 2: had the Supreme Leader say that protesters are acting to
Speaker 2: please the president of the US.
Speaker 3: Okay, so I'm interested in understanding then this link to
Speaker 3: the US. Obviously, we're talking about the Iranian economy, Iranian
Speaker 3: political unrest, the Supreme Leader, the regime specifically in Iran.
Speaker 1: So what does that have to do with America.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a good question. I think in its most
Speaker 2: simplest form, Iran and the US are enemies, for lack
Speaker 2: of a better term, and have been since the revolution
Speaker 2: in nineteen seventy nine. But in this specific context, Donald
Speaker 2: Trump has become involved in the local protests. So on
Speaker 2: the third of January, a few days into this current protest,
Speaker 2: Donald Trump posted to x that if Iran quote violently
Speaker 2: kills peaceful protesters, the US will come to their rescue.
Speaker 2: He added, we are locked and loaded and ready to go.
Speaker 2: Since then, he's been pictured wearing a hat that reads
Speaker 2: make Iran Great Again. So he weighed in pretty soon
Speaker 2: after these protests began.
Speaker 1: Basically threatening US involvement. Correct.
Speaker 2: So in response to this, in a letter to the
Speaker 2: UN Security Council, the Iranian UN ambassador said that Trump
Speaker 2: had openly threatened Iran. He said that the US had
Speaker 2: shown a consistent pattern of intervention and coercion, pursued under
Speaker 2: the pretext of supporting the Iranian people. Then on Sunday,
Speaker 2: Iran threatened to strike against US and Israeli targets if
Speaker 2: the US gets involved in the situation. We had Iran's
Speaker 2: parliamentary speaker say that in the case of an attack
Speaker 2: on Iran, all of the US and Israeli bases and
Speaker 2: ships would be a quote legitimate target.
Speaker 3: Okay, So that is speaking to I suppose the relationship
Speaker 3: between Israel and the US as close allies.
Speaker 2: And also the fact that since the revolution, Iran has
Speaker 2: committed to the destruction of the Jewish states. So there
Speaker 2: has been the relationship between the US and Israel, but
Speaker 2: also a separate relationship between or lack thereof, between Israel
Speaker 2: and Iran, and they have traded fire as recently as
Speaker 2: last year.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 3: So this global geopolitical context is really at the heart
Speaker 3: of this story, now, Zara, and the reason why so
Speaker 3: many newsrooms across the world are unpacking it, trying to
Speaker 3: understand it. We've got domestic protests that really have the
Speaker 3: ability to broaden and impact the global community at large.
Speaker 3: The threat of all out war basically on the table
Speaker 3: from some world leaders. What are other world leaders saying?
Speaker 2: The majority of world leaders are really calling for restraint.
Speaker 2: So we heard from the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterrez
Speaker 2: who said he was shocked by reports of violence and
Speaker 2: excessive use of force by Iranian authorities. He said that quote,
Speaker 2: all Iranians must be able to express their grievances peacefully
Speaker 2: and without fear, and he urged Iranian authorities to exercise
Speaker 2: maximum restraint and refrain from unnecessary or disproportionate use of force.
Speaker 2: And that idea was really echoed by the leaders of France,
Speaker 2: Germany and the UK who said in a joint statement
Speaker 2: that they strongly condemn the killing of protesters. So lots
Speaker 2: of world leaders really zeroing in on these reports of
Speaker 2: a violent crackdown in Iran and calling on Iranian authorities
Speaker 2: to really show restraint there in terms of understanding, and
Speaker 2: I guess just to go back to what you were
Speaker 2: saying before understanding the impact of these protests globally. The
Speaker 2: Islamic Republic currently backs and funds a number of groups
Speaker 2: in the Middle East, so they back come US in Gaza,
Speaker 2: Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Huthis in Yemen. And so
Speaker 2: this fact alone shows why this is so significant, because
Speaker 2: a destabilization of the Iranian country's leadership could have really,
Speaker 2: really significant outcomes on the region at large.
Speaker 3: Yeah, obviously tensions are incredibly high at the moment, but
Speaker 3: that's some very important global context I suppose.
Speaker 1: There, Zarah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I do just want to end on a
Speaker 2: note of trying to capture the significance of the moment.
Speaker 2: I did speak to an Iranian journalist, Mojta Kashani, who
Speaker 2: had this to tell us.
Speaker 4: Today, Iran is in the middle of a major uprising
Speaker 4: and many Iranians believe it could become a revolution again
Speaker 4: and again. Despite the risks, ordinary people have risen up.
Speaker 4: For Uranians, this is not just about prices or politics.
Speaker 4: It is a fight for dignity, freedom and a future
Speaker 4: without fear. And as the streets feel even under blackout,
Speaker 4: one question echoes again, is this time different?
Speaker 3: Zara, Thank you so much for unpacking that for us.
Speaker 3: And thank you for sharing that quote there from an
Speaker 3: Iranian journalist. Some really important information and clearly this is
Speaker 3: an evolving story one will continue to keep an eye
Speaker 3: on here on the podcast and over on.
Speaker 1: The Daily os Instagram.
Speaker 3: Thanks em that's all we've got time for for today's
Speaker 3: deep dive.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3: We'll be back a little bit later with your evening
Speaker 3: news headlines, but until then, have a great day.
Speaker 2: My name is Lily Madden and I'm a proud Arunda
Speaker 2: Banjelung Calcultin woman from Gadighl Country. The Daily oz acknowledges
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