MESOP NEWS TODAYS”TOP OF THE AGENDA” / A SAMPLER OF RELEVANT SOURCES – AL JAZEERA – NYT – GUARDIAN – THE ATLANTIC – Financial Times – Wallstreet Journal et.al.

Iran Death Toll Rises Amid Mounting Protests

State media in Iran reported that at least nine people, including three policemen, were killed in anti-government protests overnight on Monday. Authorities accused six of the dead of raiding a police station (Al Jazeera).

The death toll was believed to be more than twenty (NYT) as the country entered its sixth day of nationwide protests over a suffering economy and corruption. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his first public comments since the demonstrations began, blamed the “enemies of Iran” (Guardian) for the unrest. On Monday, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran has seen similar incidents in the past (FT) and that the country would “easily pass by” it.

ANALYSIS

“Iranians aren’t ‘finally’ waking up and ‘getting wise,’ as Trump suggests. Instead, Iran has a dynamic and active civil society, which has created and embraced opportunities for reformation and progress for decades,” Ariane Tabatabai writes for the Atlantic.

“If Iranians do choose to rise up and push aside their government, it will not be the result of support from Washington,” CFR’s Philip H. Gordon writes for the New York Times.

“However the events on the streets unfold, their most immediate casualty will be the presidency of Hassan Rouhani and its false claim of pragmatic governance,” write Mark Dubowitz and CFR’s Ray Takeyh for the Wall Street Journal.