Danny and Derek welcome back Assal Rad, research director at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), and Pouya Alimagham, historian of the Middle East at MIT, for an episode on the ongoing protests in Iran. They discuss protest tactics, Iranian Student Day, labor power from the bazaar, the state’s reaction, the role of sanctions, the situation in Sistan and Baluchestan, and more.
Order your copy of Assal’s book, The State of Resistance: Politics, Culture, and Identity in Modern Iran, and also pick up Pouya’s book, Contesting the Iranian Revolution: The Green Uprisings.
E70 - The Iran Protests w/ Assal Rad and Pouya Alimagham
Superb podcast! Two really smart, eloquent, polished and compassionate guests. It is utterly baffling that the US administration still doesn’t ‘get it’ in terms of what to say and what not to say. It is also unable to imagine a scenario where the protesters succeed in overthrowing the Islamic regime but then choose to remain independent and not become Saudi-like stooges. But can’t imagine that Biden is even considering the possibility of of an invasion. His comment was most likely yet another example of his verbal incontinence, one that will quickly be walked back, finessed or spun by members of his administration.