Could Iran's protests topple the regime? | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the Global News podcast on. YouTube, where we go behind the. headlines to find out more about a story. and why it matters. Today, Iran is. experiencing its most serious. anti-government protests in more than 15. years. The authorities have imposed an. internet blackout and the Supreme Leader. Ayatollah Ali Ham has said his. government will not back down. So, how. significant a moment is this? And could. these demonstrations really spell the.

end of the Islamic Republic? The BBC's. chief international correspondent, Lee. Ducet, is here in the studio. And Lee, can you firstly tell us how these. protest started? >> Yes. And it's interesting, Charlotte, because the question that you posed. today is the question that is asked uh. every time there is another wave of. unrest in Iran. And so too this time and. every time there is an eruption of. violence across the country of people. taking to the streets there is a.

different trigger. And this time it. started with traders selling mobile. telephones in one of the malls in Tehran. because the currency had collapsed and. it became impossible for them to sell. mobiles to sell electronic goods which. were imported because simply the prices. shot up too high. So they shuttered. their shops and urged other traders to. do the same. And that was December the. 28th. And as always in Iran, because.

each subsequent protest leaves more. tinder on the ground. So every time the. match is lit, it actually burns the fire. rekindles the fires of the last time. So. that even though it started because of. the cost of living, it soon expanded. that students from the universities. joined in. of course among the most. politicized in society. Then it spread. from province to province to small. deprived provincial towns which of. course was mainly about the cost of. living. It intensified and expanded.

until the Thursday night, the 12th night. of protest. It was being widely. described as the biggest in scale of the. protest since 2009 since the major. eruption over disputed presidential. elections um in in Iran. and we were. there at that time and saw that first. explosion on the streets. >> So, this feels like an incredibly. significant moment in Iran. >> This is a very significant moment um in. Iran. Someone put it on on social media.

this way. The numbers of 2009, although. it has to be said, we're not still not. talking about millions on the street. There were millions out in Thran at the. peak of the protest in 2009. the numbers he said this the numbers of. 2009 but the mindset of 2020. 255 2026. Iran is a different place now. >> the clerical regime is much weaker at. home the economy is much is much weaker. u because of the weight of years of.

crippling sanctions Iranians are. exhausted not just by from the pain of. sanctions but also anger and frustration. with the with mismanagement with. corruption. Iran is weaker. internationally after the defeats it. suffered during the Gaza war which saw. many of its allies and proxies around. the region either degraded or defeated. and of course a black cloud over this. this round which is President Trump's. warning if you kill protesters I will.

strike at you. How much will this be. worrying Iran's clerical rulers? >> Every time there's another wave there's. another crack. >> Mhm. When we were in Iran in the end of June, uh the end of the 12-day war between. Iran and Israel, the I was really struck. by how many women of all generations. were not wearing the mandatory hijab, the headscarves or the the long coats. They were flaunting the law knowing they. could arrest being arrested, knowing the.

consequence they could be in jail. There. was this quiet courage on the streets. this sort of this this s this symbol to. say we are not going back. >> And so therefore these women again and. and many from a young generation are. going on onto the streets this time and. there are greater cracks. But as always. you see but you know there on social. media among you know and there's in the. intense conversation both inside the. country and outside is where will this.

go and we have to emphasize it remains. unpredictable. It is very hard to to. track with any certainty the trajectory. from all of these cracks as I mentioned. this growing crisis on the streets to. the collapse of the Islamic Republic and. as always whenever there is an uprising. of some kind whether it's Iran or. anywhere else the other question always. is will it come from below. >> from the streets from the people or will. it come from above unless these cracks.

on the streets are also cracks in the. ruling establishment. And so far, even. though many talk about them, there's. still not clear sign that they are. willing to basically sacrifice all, we've always said that there is a red. line for this regime, and that is their. survival. >> And is there a political alternative at. the moment to the regime? If it fell, what would replace it? >> This is not just a battle to bring down. the state. And some would say they want.

to reform the state. Some people want to. bring down the state. There's also a. battle to be the next leaders. And what. we have seen during this protest, these. protests is a number of of opposition. leaders in exile, but also inside Iran. have been making their views known. You. have among some perhaps the most. recognizable name, which is the exiled. former crown prince Resa Palvi. He's got. a very active media team, a very active,

some would say, aggressive presence. online. It's widely believed that it was. his call to Iranians made on social. media saying, "Go into the streets at. 8:00 at night, Iranian time. Everyone. coordinate your chance together." And. while it is difficult to be certain to. measure these, especially when there's. an internet uh almost a near total. blackout when there's so much. disinformation online, among the slogans. which were chanted on the streets. alongside death to the dictator, don't. be afraid were those who were calling.

for Resa Palvi to return, not. necessarily to bring the monarchy back, but for change. But there was also a. call by Kurdish groups for a general. strike. There has was also a call a few. days ago by a group of 17 dissident, filmmakers, artists led by the Nobel. laurate Narz Muhammadi who has spent. many years in prison is still in prison. saying that change, peaceful change and. transition has to come from within Iran.

And so as Iran contemplates, I think you. we there is a real profound sense that. something has got to change. But the. absence of a clear alternative to avoid. a descent into collapse is something. which often stays the hand of some. people and perhaps stays the hand of. outside powers as well. But we live I. don't need anyone no one listening to. this podcast needs to be told we live in.

deeply unpredictable times. >> I was going to say that the. unpredictability of the world at the. moment. Do you think that the Iranian. regime will be taking Donald Trump's. threats seriously about him intervening. if they kill protesters considering what. happened in Venezuela? >> Well, exactly. He's made the warning. three times now. And when he was asked. about it again on Thursday night, he in. his words he said, "We have told the. Iranians very strongly." He said, in.

other words, a threat they have to take. seriously that there's no doubt about. it. And he said, "We will hit them very. hard if they kill more protesters." Now. in his very Trump way when he was asked. about people dying he said well there's. been stampedes and which there's been a. physical reaction people saying. stampedes of course there's been there's. been a a crush of people so it is said. that it has concentrated minds in tan. because it has been amplified not just. by what President Trump does by but by.

what he is doing the action in Venezuela. that has definitely concentrated minds. in tan so now they're in a bind. how to put down these protests without. provoking the anger of the people on the. streets or the anger of the president in. the White House. Thanks, Lee. That was. our chief international correspondent, Lee Ducet. And you can hear more on this. story on the Global News podcast. Listen. wherever you get your podcasts. And if. you liked this episode, do please.

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