The protests were hijacked by Reza Pahlavi and notions of Persian supremacy, then brutally repressed by a violent regime In late December, Iran experienced the beginnings of an uprising driven primarily by economic pressures, initially emerging among merchant bazaaris and subsequently spreading across broader segments of society. As events unfolded rapidly, calls for regime change became the focus of international attention. Consistent with its response to previous protest movements, the Iranian government once again opted for repression rather than engagement, violently suppressing demonstrations instead of allowing popular grievances to be articulated and addressed. As visual evidence circulated depicting the accumulation of bodies at Kahrizak , it became increasingly evident that the primary instigator of the violence leading to these fatalities was the Islamic Republic itself, which has refused to tolerate civil unrest and has consistently responded to popular mobilisation with force. Behrouz Boochani is a Kurdish writer. Mehdi Jalali Tehrani is an Iranian political commentator Continue reading...