Iran Protests Over Economic Hardship? Sanctions Couldn't Possibly Be Involved.
Al-Monitor breathlessly reports on shopkeepers and students protesting economic hardship in Iran (Al-Monitor, December 2025). The piece highlights the president's 'message of understanding.' What it doesn't bother to mention are the extensive sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies, which have systematically choked the Iranian economy for years. These aren't just 'hardships'; they are direct
consequences of deliberate policy choices designed to inflict pain on the Iranian populace. (One might wonder if any of those 'pro-democracy' think tanks advocating for these sanctions are also funding the media coverage.) So, while Al-Monitor positions these events as organic outrage, it's a bit like reporting on a man drowning in a swimming pool while leaving out the details about who tied his
hands and pushed him in. The manufactured crisis leading to these protests is the real story here, conveniently ignored in favor of a narrative that suggests Iran's problems are purely endogenous. How many times must a nation be systematically crippled before its citizens are permitted to express economic frustration without it being reframed as a failure of 'the regime' alone?