Iran’s latest protest wave did not begin as a grand ideological crusade. It began the way breakdowns often do, with daily life becoming unlivable. When a currency collapses, prices spiral, wages no longer cover basic needs and public services fail, politics stops being a debate over competing visions and becomes a referendum on endurance. That is the core reality emerging from Iran today. People are not protesting because they suddenly discovered activism. They are protesting because the habits of coping, tightening their belts, leaning on family and waiting for conditions to improve have finally stopped working. Exhaustion is not a mood. It is a political force.
Iran protests seem different. They may lead to real change. – Middle East Institute
