A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
All right. To look more closely at what's driving the protests in Iran, we turn to Hooman Majd. He's an Iranian American author and also an NBC contributor. So you're in touch with people in Iran. What have they told you about life under this economy?
HOOMAN MAJD: Oh, it's horrible. I mean, you know, the best way to describe the past year, at least, is what, you know, the - Queen Elizabeth once called England's annus horribilis, a terrible, terrible year, for Iran. What started out relatively optimistically with Trump taking office and starting negotiations with Iran turned into war in June, which caused a huge depreciation of Iran's currency and uncertainty about the market. And, you know, most imports in Iran are based on the dollar. And when you lose 40% of your purchasing power, it becomes very difficult to maintain a lifestyle that you're accustomed to. I mean, people in Iran are really unhappy more about the economy than anything else.
Social freedoms have been relaxed quite a bit since the Women, Life, Freedom protests that were mentioned earlier in 2022. Women now regularly go out without hijab. This is not something that is being - causing concern for people.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
MAJD: Political freedoms are not really what people are concerned about. It's really the cost of living.
MARTÍNEZ: That James Carville line, right? It's the economy, stupid.
MAJD: It's the economy, stupid. I mean...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
MAJD: A quick example is people - a regular person in Iran, doing a regular job - I can't really describe what that would be, whether it's a government official or someone - a barista in a high-end coffee shop, for example, in Tehran, is making less than $100 a month.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow.
MAJD: And Iran is not a country - at today's exchange rate. And Iran is not a country where the prices of goods are very, very low, like, you know, a desperate third-world country, for example.
MARTÍNEZ: So - but wait. So who do they blame then? I mean, who do the people in Iran blame? The government, sanctions? Who are they blaming?
MAJD: Well, they definitely will always blame the government, and they'll blame the government for mismanagement and corruption. They'll also blame sanctions. But when you blame sanctions, you can also blame your own government. Why did you not make a deal? Or why did you make a deal that Trump was able to tear up, as Trump said in 2018? I mean, everything went downhill from 2018 economically with the reimposition of sanctions. When the JCPOA, the original nuclear deal under Obama, was signed, there was great optimism in Iran. There was - you know, people were very happy about it. They were happy with their government.
When Trump came to power and came to office and tore up that deal, everything started going downhill. And what happened in January of this year is when Trump took office and said he was going to make a deal, there was optimism. And the rial actually initially went probably, I'd say, 50% higher than it had been because of that optimism. And as we know, Steve Witkoff, Trump's Mideast envoy, was having talks with Iran, with Iranian foreign minister regularly. And in the middle of those talks, Israel attacked.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
MAJD: So they're blaming - I mean, the people blame everything,
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, everything.
MAJD: And they just want a solution - and they want a solution. But, you know, as the report earlier said, this is not yet an Iranian Spring. It's not the Arab Spring. It's not 100,000 people in Tahrir Square.
MARTÍNEZ: So we're not quite there yet. You mentioned Trump, though, and I'm wondering, Hooman, when it comes to President Trump, he's supporting the protesters, but he has not called for regime change. So how much would you say that he factors into what people in Iran are feeling?
MAJD: Well, I think he definitely factors in because - I mean, he's factored in ever since he's been in office - I think, you know, his support of Israel, his bombing of Iran and what he said just this week with - in the press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that he would support Israel attacking Iran, not just on the nuclear issue, but on the ballistic missiles. And now, that's a big issue for Iran because the ballistic missiles that Iran has, the missiles it was able to use, in the war with Israel is really its only line of defense for the country. So if you're a nationalist Iranian, if you're someone who is proud of your country, regardless of the government, you're going to be very upset about that, and you're going to consider this...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
MAJD: ...Very threatening and potentially destabilizing Iran even more. So people are very worried right now. I mean, everybody I talk to is extremely worried about the future.
MARTÍNEZ: Hooman Majd, an Iranian American author and NBC contributor. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on this.
MAJD: My pleasure. Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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