As the economy in Iran deteriorates, demonstrators in Tehran protested the regime’s financial support for terror proxies in the region at the expense of domestic economic needs.
By: World Israel News Staff
Among the slogans chanted at economic protests in Tehran on Monday were “death to Palestine,” “we don’t want the ayatollahs,” and “no to Gaza, no to Lebanon,” reported Times of Israel.
While police fired tear gas at demonstrators, traders in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar staged a rare protest strike as well.
Iranians who participated in the protests represent a growing demographic in the Islamic Republic that is fed up with the nation’s plummeting currency and crumbling economy. They see the regime’s vast support for proxies throughout the Middle East, including the Hamas terror group and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, as a drain on resources that should be applied domestically.
Iran has also reportedly funneled $6 billion into Syria in an effort to maintain president Bashar Assad’s grip on power in the war-torn nation.
Meanwhile, Iran’s currency has been devalued by close to 50 percent in the last six months alone, reflecting an ailing private sector, dysfunctional banking system, and skyrocketing unemployment rates.
Iranians mounted similar economic protests at the close of 2017, spreading to around 75 cities and towns and resulting in the deaths of 25 people and arrest of around 5,000.
During those protests, demonstrators slammed Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
More recently, Iranians took to social media to defy their regime by posting images with the hashtag #WeStandwithIsrael.