Iran is witnessing large scale anti-government protests.
Being a significant regional power, the unrest is making vibes in larger international relations.
What are the recent developments?
The protests began in Mashhad, Iranian city.
They were initially focussed on deteriorating economic situation, official corruption and lack of social freedoms.
However, it gradually turned into political rallies and expanded to several cities.
Notably many were killed and hundreds of people have been arrested.
On the other hand, tens of thousands of people took part in counter-demonstrations backing the clerically overseen government.
Notably, President Hassan Rouhani acknowledged the public’s anger over the deteriorating economy.
However, he strongly condemned the resort to violence and showed tough resistance through the security forces.
What was the US role in Iran?
Then US President Obama, to counter the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, encouraged Gulf rulers to fund the Sunni groups in Syria.
This had only worsened the chaos and ultimately led to the emergence of the more dangerous ISIS.
Subsequently, the US believed in Iran as a force with the will and ability to counter this radical Islamist force, though Iran was not its traditional ally.
It thus committed air assets and some military advisers to Iran.
The 2015 Iran-P5 nuclear deal was also an attempt to empower Iran.
The deal eventually emboldened Iran to gather Shia allies extending west from Iran to the Mediterranean.
Eventually, Russia joined as well, to grab an opportunity to regain influence in West Asia.
What did these lead to?
The US backing of Iran, certainly strained the relations with its traditional allies Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Iranian ascendancy has also made Israel nervous, as it perceives an existential threat from Iranian ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Obama was thus keeping many banking sanctions operational to balance these concerns.
This was on the pretext that they are related to Iran's support to terrorist groups like Hezbollah.
President Rouhani managed the internal consensus for the nuclear deal by convincing that foreign investment and technology would flow.
Unfortunately, that never happened, as the residual US sanctions still scared investors and the cash-rich GCC members.
What are the international implications of the recent protest?
US - Since becoming the US President, Trump had been critical of the Iran nuclear deal.
He had recently declined to certify that Iran was complying with the nuclear deal. Click here to know more.
The President and Vice-President of the United States, in their tweets, have recently incited Iranians to engage in disruptive acts.
Iran has thus charged US of crossing limits in international relations by supporting anti-government protesters.
Top officials within Iran are also attributing the protests to foreign money, intelligence and foreign forces.
Russia - Russia has urged the United States to not interfere in what it calls Iran's “domestic affairs”.
Russia also firmly expressed that the Iran nuclear deal was not to be corrected and be continued.
The recent protest, in all, is reflective of the earlier Arab Spring for rooting out the governments in many West Asian countries.
It is also brewing as a potential focal point for world countries for alliances and counter-alliances.
