Iran is in turmoil but the clerics and their allies remain entrenched

“NO TO high prices!”, “Down with embezzlers!”, “People are paupers while the mullahs live like gods!” Are these the chants of foreign-sponsored insurrectionists trying to create anarchy, insecurity and intrigue in Iran? That is what the clerical regime would have you believe, as it ignores the economic grievances voiced by the thousands of Iranians who have taken to the streets in more than 70 towns and cities in the past week.

Incredibly, the unrest seems to have been started by religious hardliners, hoping to undermine the reformist presidency of Hassan Rouhani. Stoking their anger over the rising price of eggs, clerics in Mashhad, Iran’s second city, urged hundreds of their followers to protest on December 28th. Many demanded the president’s resignation and called for fresh elections—though Mr Rouhani was re-elected just last year.