Iranian-American journalist offers an inside look at the protests sweeping Iran : NPR

TO MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

All right. To take a closer look at what’s driving the protests in Iran, let’s turn to Hooman Majd. He is an Iranian American author and also an NBC contributor. So you are in contact with people in Iran. What did they tell you about life in this economy?

HOOMAN MAJD: Oh, it’s horrible. I mean, you know, the best way to describe the past year, at least, is what, you know, Queen Elizabeth once called England’s annus horribilis, a terrible, terrible year for Iran. What began relatively optimistically with Trump coming to power and beginning negotiations with Iran turned into war in June, causing a sharp depreciation of the Iranian currency and market uncertainty. And you know, most of Iran’s imports are based on the dollar. And when you lose 40% of your purchasing power, it becomes very difficult to maintain a lifestyle to which you are accustomed. I mean, Iranians are really more unhappy with the economy than anything else.

Social freedoms have been considerably relaxed since the Women, Life, Freedom protests mentioned earlier in 2022. Women now regularly go out without hijab. It’s not something that people worry about.

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.

MAJD: Political freedoms are not really what people worry about. It really is the cost of living.

MARTÍNEZ: That line from James Carville, right? It’s the economy, stupid.

MAJD: It’s the economy, stupid. I mean…

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.

MAJD: A quick example is people – an ordinary person in Iran, doing a regular job – I can’t really describe what that would be, whether it’s a government official or someone – a barista at a high-end coffee shop, for example, in Tehran, makes less than $100 a month.

MARTÍNEZ: Wow.

MAJD: And Iran is not a country – at the current exchange rate. And Iran is not a country where the prices of goods are very, very low, like, you know, a desperate third world country, for example.

MARTÍNEZ: So, but wait. So who do they blame then? I mean, who are the Iranians blaming? The government, sanctions? Who do they blame?

MAJD: Well, they will certainly always blame the government, and they will blame the government for mismanagement and corruption. They will also blame the sanctions. But when you blame sanctions, you can also blame your own government. Why didn’t you make a deal? Or why did you make a deal that Trump was able to break, as Trump said in 2018? I mean, everything went downhill economically starting in 2018 with the reimposition of sanctions. When the JCPOA, the original nuclear deal under Obama, was signed, there was great optimism in Iran. There was… you know, people were very happy about it. They were satisfied with their government.

When Trump came to power and broke that agreement, everything started to go downhill. And what happened in January of this year was that when Trump took office and announced that he was going to make a deal, there was optimism. And initially the rial was probably, I would say, 50% higher than before because of that optimism. And as we know, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, had regular meetings with Iran, with the Iranian foreign minister. And in the midst of these talks, Israel attacked.

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.

MAJD: So they blame – I mean, people blame everything,

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, everything.

MAJD: And they just want a solution – and they want a solution. But you know, as the report said earlier, we are not yet in the Iranian spring. This is not the Arab Spring. It’s not about 100,000 people in Tahrir Square.

MARTÍNEZ: So we’re not there yet. However, you mentioned Trump, and I wonder, Hooman, that as far as President Trump is concerned, he supports the protesters, but he has not called for regime change. So, to what extent would you say it takes into account how Iranians feel?

MAJD: Well, I think he certainly takes it into account because – I mean, he has taken into account since he’s been in office – I think, you know, his support for Israel, its bombing of Iran and what he said this week – in the press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that he would support Israel attacking Iran, not only on the nuclear issue, but on ballistic missiles. And now this is a big problem for Iran because the ballistic missiles that Iran has, the missiles that it has been able to use in the war with Israel, are actually its only line of defense for the country. So if you are a nationalist Iranian, if you are someone who is proud of your country, regardless of the government, you are going to be very upset by this, and you are going to think about this…

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.

MAJD: …Iran is very threatening and potentially even more destabilizing. So people are very worried right now. I mean, everyone I talk to is extremely worried about the future.

MARTÍNEZ: Hooman Majd, Iranian-American author and NBC contributor. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this.

MAJD: With pleasure. THANKS.

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