After a week of the largest nationwide demonstrations in years, the streets of Iran have once again fallen silent, subdued by force.
One resident of Tehran compared the mood in the capital to the days around Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, when many leave the city and shops close early.
But there’s no festive cheer, only eerie quiet, they said. Life carries on in the shadow of a deadly crackdown on protesters and under the specter of a potential new military faceoff with the United States. The Islamic Republic hopes to celebrate the 47th anniversary of the revolution that brought it to power next month. It will bring out crowds and blast revolutionary tunes. Yet the mood in the halls of power in Tehran is likely to be far less celebratory, as the regime faces the biggest threat to its survival yet.
It may have been able to crush the latest wave of protests using its tried-and-tested playbook of repression. But the fundamental grievances animating protesters haven’t gone away.
Last Thursday and Friday are emerging as some of the most pivotal days in recent Iranian history.
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