Street Protests and Socio-Economic Challenges in Iran: The Case of Khuzestan Province

With the European Union struggling to prevent the collapse of the Iranian nuclear deal and as Washington and its allies seek to ramp-up economic pressure against Tehran, internal socio-economic and political trends in the country are emerging as the new battle ground in the decades-long struggle between Iran and its adversaries. In late 2017, localized protests erupted in various Iranian cities, resulting in somewhat exaggerated media coverage in the West that seemed to point to an impeding popular revolution in Iran. Protests erupted in the north-eastern Khorasan province, in the holy city of Mashhad, from where they quickly spread to over 85 cities and provincial towns.