Editing Politics of Iran (section)

==History and background==
===1979 Revolution===
In 1979, Shah [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] was overthrown by an [[Iranian Revolution|Islamic Revolution]] in Iran, replacing its millennia-old monarchy with a theocratic republic.  Shortly after, the leader of the Revolution, a senior Islamic jurist named Ayatollah [[Ruhollah Khomeini]], also transliterated Khumaynî, successfully supported referendums to declare Iran an Islamic Republic in March 1979, and to approve a constitution in December 1979, whereby "the Islamic government" would be "based upon ''wilayat al-faqih''", ([[Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist]]) "as proposed by Imam Khumaynî", quoting the preamble of the constitution.<ref name="CP-constitution-6">{{cite web |title=Iran (Islamic Republic of)'s Constitution of 1979 with Amendments through 1989. Preamble. Islamic Government |url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Iran_1989.pdf?lang=en |website=Constitute Project |access-date=3 August 2022 |page=6}}</ref> 

The constitution (which was drafted by an assembly made up primarily by disciples of Khomeini),<ref name=KEA1993:33-36>[[#KEA1993|Abrahamian, ''Khomeinism'', 1993]]: p.33-36</ref> calls for a ''Vali-ye faqih'' (Guardian Islamic Jurist), to serve as the [[Supreme Leader of Iran|Supreme Leader]] of Iran,<ref>[http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/ilsp/publications/buchta.pdf Taking Stock of a Quarter Century of the Islamic Republic of Iran] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227100026/http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/ilsp/publications/buchta.pdf |date=27 February 2008 }}, Wilfried Buchta, Harvard Law School, June 2005, p.5–6</ref><ref>[http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/constitution-8.html Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, section 8] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123063337/http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/constitution-8.html |date=23 November 2010 }} Article 109 states an essential qualification of "the Leader" is "scholarship, as required for performing the functions of mufti in different fields of fiqh"</ref> and for Islamic jurists to serve in other powerful institutions such as the [[Guardian Council]] and [[Assembly of Experts]].

===Establishment of guardianship of the jurist===
Guardianship of the Jurist is a concept in [[Twelver]] [[Shia Islam]]ic [[sharia|law]], which holds that, in [[Occultation (Islam)|the absence]] of the "[[Imamate in Shia doctrine|Infallible Imam]]", who, according to Twelver beliefs, is the religious and political leader of Islam and will reappear sometime before [[Judgement Day in Islam|Judgement Day]],  righteous Shi'i jurists (''[[faqīh]]'')<ref name="JoAOS-1991-549">{{cite journal |title=Review by Hossein Modarressi, by THE JUST RULER OR THE GUARDIAN JURIST: AN ATTEMPT TO LINK TWO DIFFERENT SHICITE CONCEPTS by Abdulaziz Abdulhussein Sachedina |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |date=July–September 1991 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=549–562 |jstor=604271 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/604271 |access-date=31 July 2022}}</ref> should administer "some" of the "religious and social affairs" of the Shi'i community.<ref name="JoAOS-1991-549"/> In its "absolute" form—the form advanced by the [[Ayatollah]] [[Ruhollah Khomeini]]<ref name="VeF-Encyclo.com">{{cite web |last1=Algar |first1=Hamid |last2=Hooglund |first2=Eric |title=VELAYAT-E FAQIH Theory of governance in Shiʿite Islam. |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/velayat-e-faqih |website=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=31 July 2022}}</ref> and the basis of government in [[History of the Islamic Republic of Iran|Islamic Republic of Iran]]—the state and society are ruled by an Islamic jurist. Khomeini served as the Guardian Jurist [[Supreme Leader of Iran]] until his death in 1989. His successor, [[Ali Khamenei]], is still ruling as of mid 2023.

In a 1970 book on the subject circulated to his network of supporters, Khomeini argued  that since Islamic [[sharia]] law contains everything needed to rule a state, whether ancient or modern,<ref name=IaR1981:137-8>[[#IaR1981|Khomeini, ''Islamic Government'', 1981]]: p.137-8</ref> any other basis of governance will lead to injustice and sin.<ref name=IaR1981:31-33>[[#IaR1981|Khomeini, ''Islamic Government'', 1981]]: p.31-33</ref> Thus Iran, the Muslim world and eventually the whole world, must be ruled according to sharia, and the person who should rule according to sharia, is an expert in that form of law.<ref>Abrahamian, Ervand, ''Khomeinism : Essays on the Islamic Republic'' by Ervand Abrahamian, p.34-5</ref>  

These Guardians are deemed the true holders of both religious and political authority, who must be obeyed as "an expression of obedience to God",<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20031206165617/http://www.wandea.org.pl/khomeini-pdf/hukumat-i-islami.pdf Islamic Government] ''Islam and Revolution I, Writings and declarations of Imam Khomeini'', 1981, p.91</ref> 
and whose rule has "precedence over all secondary ordinances in Islam such as [[Salat|prayer]], [[Sawm|fasting]], and [[Hajj|pilgrimage]]."<ref name="autogenerated2">Hamid Algar, `Development of the Concept of velayat-i faqih since the Islamic Revolution in Iran,` paper presented at London Conference on wilayat al-faqih, in June, 1988] [p.135-8]. Also ''Ressalat'', Tehran, 7 January 1988, online]</ref>

===Post-revolutionary political conditions===

The early days of the revolutionary government were characterized by political tumult. In November 1979, the [[Embassy of the United States, Tehran|US embassy]] was seized and its occupants [[Iran hostage crisis|taken hostage]] and kept captive for 444 days, because of US support for the [[Shah of Iran|Shah (monarch) of Iran]]. The eight-year [[Iran–Iraq War]] killed hundreds of thousands and cost the country billions of dollars.  By the early 1980s, power struggles ended in leftists and nationalists eliminated from all governmental institutions,<ref>Moin, ''Khomeini'' (2001), p.21-234</ref><ref>Arjomand, Said Amir, The Turban for the Crown : The Islamic Revolution in Iran, Oxford University Press, c1988, p.144</ref><ref>Bakhash, Shaul, Reign of the Ayatollahs : Iran and the Islamic Revolution by Shaul, Bakhash, Basic Books, c1984 p.158-9</ref> and the revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini and his supporters firmly in control.

Iran's post-revolution challenges have included the imposition [[Sanctions against Iran|of economic sanctions]] and the suspension of [[Iran-United States relations|diplomatic relations with Iran by the United States]] because of the hostage crisis, political support to Iraq and other acts of terrorism that the U.S. government and some others have accused Iran of sponsoring. Emigration from Iran has [[Human capital flight from Iran|cost Iran millions of educated people]], including entrepreneurs, professionals, technicians, and skilled craftspeople and their capital.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/irans-economic-morass-mismanagement-and-decline-under-the-islamic-republic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617210433/http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC04.php?CID=23|url-status=dead|title=Iran's Economic Morass|archive-date=17 June 2009|website=www.washingtoninstitute.org|access-date=29 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Harrison|first=Frances|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6240287.stm|title=Huge cost of Iranian brain drain By Frances Harrison|work=BBC News|date=8 January 2007|access-date=7 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329105011/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6240287.stm|archive-date=29 March 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>  Poverty rose by nearly 45% in absolute terms during the first 6 years of the  Iran-Iraq War,<ref>Based on the government's own Planning and Budget Organization statistics, from: Jahangir Amuzegar, 'The Iranian Economy before and after the Revolution,' ''Middle East Journal'' 46, n.3 (summer 1992): 421)</ref> and according to the World Bank, by the time the war ended in 1988, per capita income was a little more than half of what it had been in 1976, shortly before the revolution.<ref>"According to World Bank figures, which take 1974 as 100, per capita GDP went from a high of 115 in 1976 to a low of 60 in 1988, the year war with Iraq ended ..." (Keddie, ''Modern Iran'', 2003, p.274)</ref><ref>Low reached in 1995, from: Mackey, ''Iranians'', 1996, p. 366.</ref>

====Human rights====
=====Background=====
The alleged tyranny and brutality towards all opposition of the monarchy was one of the propaganda themes of the Islamic revolution, but the Islamic Republic has not tolerated opposition to its system of government, since, as mentioned above, it believes disobedience to it is disobedience to God. In 1984, Iran's representative to the United Nations, Saʿid Rajaʾie-Khorassani, declared the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be representing a "secular understanding of the Judeo-Christian tradition", which did not "accord with the system of values recognized by the Islamic Republic of Iran" and whose provisions the IRI would "not hesitate to violate".<ref>United Nations General Assembly. 39th Session. Third Committee. 65th meeting, held on 7 December 1984 at 3&nbsp;pm New York. A/C.3/39/SR.65. quoted by Luiza Maria Gontowska, ''[http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=honorscollege_theses Human Rights Violations Under the Sharia'a, A Comparative Study of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran],'' May 2005, p. 4</ref><ref name=mayer-1996>paraphrased speech,  UN Doc. A/C.3/39/SR.65, para. 95. quoted in {{cite journal |last1=Mayer |first1=Ann Elizabeth |title=Islamic Rights or Human Rights: An Iranian Dilemma |journal=Iranian Studies |date=1996 |volume=29 |issue=3 (Summer)/4 (Autumn) |pages=269–296 |doi=10.1080/00210869608701851 |jstor=4310998 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4310998 |access-date=6 September 2022}}</ref>  

In reply to international criticism of repression, Iranian officials loyal to the Supreme Leader deny wrongdoing, maintaining its human rights record is better than western countries who criticize its record.<ref name="Mottaki">{{cite web|url=http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=164534|title=Tehran Times|date=5 March 2008 |access-date=12 April 2016}}</ref><ref name="democracynow.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/25/iranian_president_mahmoud_ahmadinejad_on_the|title=Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the Threat of US Attack and International Criticism of Iran's Human Rights Record|work=Democracy Now!|access-date=12 April 2016}}</ref> In 2004, Judiciary chief Ayatollah [[Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi]], denied that there were any political prisoners in Iran, saying "The world may consider certain cases, by their nature, political crimes, but because we do not have a law in this regard, these are considered ordinary offenses."<ref>{{cite web|author=John Pike |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iran/2004/16-030504.htm |title=Iran Report, A Weekly Review of Developments in and Pertaining to Iran, 3 May 2004 |publisher=Globalsecurity.org |date=3 May 2004 |access-date=26 September 2013}}</ref> In 2008, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  replied to a question about human rights by stating that Iran has fewer prisoners than the US and "the human rights situation in Iran is relatively a good one, when compared ... with some European countries and the United States."

Whether the Islamic Republic goes well beyond what Sunni and many Shia Muslims consider Islamic exceptions to international human rights norms, is also an issue. Khomeini's January 1988 pronouncement "... that [Islamic] government is a branch of the Prophet's absolute Wilayat and one of the primary (first order) rules of Islam that has priority over all ordinances of the law even praying, fasting and Hajj…The Islamic State could prevent implementation of everything – devotional and non- devotional – that so long as it seems against Islam's interests",<ref>Sahife’ Noor (letters and lectures of Ayatollah Khomeini), Volume 20, p. 170. quoted in {{cite book |last1=Vaezi |first1=Ahmed |title=Shia Political Thought |chapter=The Dominion Of The Wali Al-Faqih |url=https://www.al-islam.org/shia-political-thought-ahmed-vaezi/what-wilayat-al-faqih#dominion_wali_al-faqih/ |website=al-islam.org |access-date=11 August 2022 |date=2004}}</ref><ref name="Keyhan, January 8, 1988">''Keyhan'', January 8, 1988; quoted in {{cite journal |last1=MATSUNAGA |first1=Yasuyuki |title=Revisiting Ayatollah Khomeini's Doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqıh (Velayat-e Faqıh) |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/orient/44/0/44_77/_pdf |journal=Orient |date=2009 |volume=XLIV |pages=81, 87 |access-date=5 August 2022}}</ref> leads Ann Elizabeth Mayer to argue that this theory of ''velayat-e motlaqaye faqih'' ("the absolute authority of the jurist") "freed" the Islamic Republic "to do as it chose-even if this meant violating fundamental pillars of the religion ...", and that this doctrine, not sharia law, explained "the prevalence of torture and punishment of political dissent" in the Islamic Republic.<ref Name=Mayer-1996-269-absolute>{{cite journal |last1=Mayer |first1=Ann Elizabeth |title=Islamic Rights or Human Rights: An Iranian Dilemma |journal=Iranian Studies |date=1996 |volume=29 |issue=3 (Summer)/4 (Autumn) |pages=269–270 |doi=10.1080/00210869608701851 |jstor=4310998 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4310998 |access-date=6 September 2022}}</ref>

On the other hand, despite the vast popularity of Khomeini in Iran before and after the revolution, (approximately 10 million people are estimated to have participated in his funeral in a country of about 60 million),<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pendle|first=George|date=2018-08-29|title=Which Famous Figure Had the Biggest Public Funeral?|url=https://www.history.com/news/which-famous-figure-had-the-biggest-public-funeral|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030034351/https://www.history.com/news/which-famous-figure-had-the-biggest-public-funeral|archive-date=2021-10-30|access-date=2021-12-25|website=HISTORY|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-01-19|title=The ten largest gatherings in human history|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11354116/The-ten-largest-gatherings-in-human-history.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029174847/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11354116/The-ten-largest-gatherings-in-human-history.html|archive-date=2021-10-29|access-date=2021-12-25|website=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref> observers (Akbar Ganji, Arzoo Osanloo, [[Hooman Majd]]) have suggested there is no widespread support for violent crackdowns on dissent in contemporary Iran. "Notions of democracy and human rights" now have much deeper roots among Iranians than under the Shah,<ref>"The Latter-Day Sultan, Power and Politics in Iran" by Akbar Ganji, ''Foreign Affairs'', November/December 2008</ref> and in fact are "almost hegemonic" (Arzoo Osanloo),<ref>Sally E. Merry, New York University, writing about  [http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8918.html ''The Politics of Women's Rights in Iran'' by Arzoo Osanloo] accessed 30-June-2009</ref> so that it is much harder to spread fear among them, even to the point that if Iranian intelligence services "were to arrest anyone who speaks ill of the government in private, they simply couldn't build cells fast enough to hold their prisoners", according to journalist Hooman Majd.<ref>Majd, ''The Ayatollah Begs to Differ'', 2008, p.183</ref>

=====Situation=====
The Islamic Republic centralized and drastically expanded the prison system of the previous regime.  In one early period (1981-1985) more than 7,900 people were executed.<ref name=Abrahamian-1983-85>source: Anonymous "Prison and Imprisonment", ''Mojahed'', 174–256 (20 October 1983{{snd}}8 August 1985).</ref>  [[1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners|Somewhere between 3,000 and 30,000 political prisoners were executed]] between July and early September 1988 on orders of the  Ayatollah Khomeini, causing a 2020 UN Special Rapporteurs to send a letter to the regime  describing the killings as "crimes against humanity".<ref name="OotHCoHR">{{cite web |title=Mandates of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; ... |url=https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=25503 |website=Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights |access-date=22 January 2021 |date=3 September 2020}}</ref>

The Islamic Republic has been criticized both for restrictions and punishments that follow the Islamic Republic's constitution and law, but not international human rights norms (harsh penalties for crimes, punishment of [[victimless crimes]], restrictions on [[freedom of speech]] and [[Freedom of the press|the press]], restrictions on [[freedom of religion]], etc.); and for "extrajudicial" actions that follow neither, such as firebombings of newspaper offices, and beatings, torture, rape, and killing without trial of political prisoners and dissidents/civilians.<ref>Ehsan Zarrokh (Ehsan and Gaeini, M. Rahman). "Iranian Legal System and Human Rights Protection" The Islamic Law and Law of the Muslim World e-journal, New York law school 3.2 (2009).</ref><ref name="ICHRIescalates">{{cite web|url=http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2008/09/irancrackdown/ |title=Rights Crisis Escalates Faces and Cases from Ahmadinejad's Crackdown, 20 September 2008 |publisher=Iranhumanrights.org |access-date=26 September 2013|date=20 September 2008 }}</ref>

====Protests====
While the Islamic Republic has been noted for its political stability, political protests against perceived corruption and injustice have become more severe and common in the twenty-first century. Nevertheless, at least one analyst, Seth G. Jones, believes that as of 2019, "the Iranian protest movement is ... too decentralized and Iranian security forces ... too strong" for the regime to be in danger of being overthrown by protesters.<ref>{{cite journal |date=November 8, 2019 |title=Iran's Protests and the Threat to Domestic Stability |last1=Jones |first1=Seth G. |website=CSIS, Center for Strategic and International Studies |url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/irans-protests-and-threat-domestic-stability |access-date=6 September 2022}}</ref> Some protests include: 
* [[Iran student protests, July 1999]]: Protested the closure of the reformist newspaper (''Salam''), and violent attack on a student dormitory by riot police. [[forced disappearance|Disappearance]] of more than seventy students, 1,200–1,400 arrested.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/press/1999/jul/iran730.htm|title=New Arrests and "Disappearances" of Iranian Students|publisher=Human Rights Watch|date=1 February 2013|access-date=25 February 2013}}</ref>
* [[2009 Iranian presidential election protests]]: Protest against alleged voting fraud and irregularities during the 2009 election. An estimated 36 killed according to Iranian government,<ref name="Iran official says 36 killed in post-vote unrest">{{Cite news|title=Iran official says 36 killed in post-vote unrest|date=10 September 2009|agency=AFP|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j8GPoWmrf2qerPWQNHb8Z9eGjT3Q|access-date=14 February 2011 <!--DASHBot-->|archive-date=5 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205084338/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j8GPoWmrf2qerPWQNHb8Z9eGjT3Q|url-status=dead}}</ref>  72 killed according to opposition.<ref name="Opposition claim">{{cite web |author=BBCPersianTV |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2012/06/120607_l39_killed_post-election_alinejad.shtml |title=BBCPersian: The cases of the victims of the 2009 election |publisher=BBC |date=8 June 2012 |access-date=8 June 2012 |archive-date=8 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608073405/http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2012/06/120607_l39_killed_post-election_alinejad.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="CNNCasualties">{{Cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/20/iran.election/index.html |title=Chaos prevails as protesters, police clash in Iranian capital |publisher=CNN|date=21 June 2009| access-date=14 February 2011  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110130220055/http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/20/iran.election/index.html| archive-date= 30 January 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=150Deaths>{{cite web|url=http://www.peykeiran.com/Content.aspx?ID=21511 |title=١۵٠ ایرانیانی که از خرداد ١٣۸۸ تا تیر ١٣۸۹ به دست رژیم کشته شده اند &#124; انقلاب اسلامی در هجرت |publisher=Sarbaz01 |access-date=11 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100912154642/http://www.peykeiran.com/Content.aspx?ID=21511 |archive-date=12 September 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[2011–12 Iranian protests]]: Protest against alleged electoral fraud during 2009 elections,<ref name=karroubi>{{cite news |title=Iran's Karroubi isolated but determined |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h1yjFxj3dd4f9Cg6ij6KcZbD6VnQ?docId=CNG.99868b1ecc4e65dad00cb9c958f4949c.921 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130222102219/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h1yjFxj3dd4f9Cg6ij6KcZbD6VnQ?docId=CNG.99868b1ecc4e65dad00cb9c958f4949c.921 |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 February 2013 |agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]|work=Google News|location=Tehran |date=25 February 2011 |access-date=25 February 2011}}</ref> violation of human rights, lack of freedom of speech,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://humanrightshouse.org/Articles/16975.html|title=Iran: Freedom of expression denied|date=26 September 2011|access-date=11 June 2015|archive-date=10 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610020718/http://humanrightshouse.org/Articles/16975.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ishr.org/Status-Quo-of-human-rights-in-Iran.1382.0.html |title = Iran limits the freedoms of speech, press, and the right of assembly; denies the right of personal freedom; and prevents the freedom of religion. The following explains the constant abuses of the human rights by giving some examples  |access-date=6 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306221558/http://www.ishr.org/Status-Quo-of-human-rights-in-Iran.1382.0.html |archive-date=6 March 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> [[corruption]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://iranchannel.org/archives/962 |title=Archived copy |access-date=6 April 2013 |archive-date=23 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823084032/http://iranchannel.org/archives/962 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[2017–18 Iranian protests]]: Protest against economic hardships, government corruption, Iranian involvement in regional conflicts, the autocratic government of [[Ali Khamenei]], human rights violations;<ref name="auto5">{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/30/world/iran-protests-issues/index.html|title=Here's why the Iran protests are significant|first1=Phil|last1=Gast|first2=Dakin|last2=Andone|publisher=CNN|access-date=2 January 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101232908/http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/30/world/iran-protests-issues/index.html|archive-date=1 January 2018|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/30/world/middleeast/iran-protests-rouhani.html|title=Iran Confronts 3rd Day of Protests, With Calls for Khamenei to Quit|first=Thomas|last=Erdbrink|date=30 December 2017|work=The New York Times|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230184022/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/30/world/middleeast/iran-protests-rouhani.html|archive-date=30 December 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="reuters.com2">{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-rallies/iran-said-protesters-should-pay-a-high-price-if-they-break-the-law-idUSKBN1EP064|title=Iranian protesters attack police stations, raise stakes in unrest|date=2 January 2018|publisher=Reuters|access-date=2 January 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101091703/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-rallies/iran-said-protesters-should-pay-a-high-price-if-they-break-the-law-idUSKBN1EP064|archive-date=1 January 2018|df=dmy-all}}</ref> 23<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-protests-latest-deaths-ayatollah-rouhani-meddling-accusations-news-updates-a8138721.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102203018/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-protests-latest-deaths-ayatollah-rouhani-meddling-accusations-news-updates-a8138721.html |archive-date=2 January 2018 |title=Iran protests latest: Grand Ayatollah accuses foreign powers of meddling as protest death toll rises to 22 |author=Kim Senqupta |date=2018-01-02 |publisher=Independent |access-date=2018-01-04 |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/02/nine-more-reported-dead-in-iran-as-protests-enter-sixth-day |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102082218/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/02/nine-more-reported-dead-in-iran-as-protests-enter-sixth-day |archive-date=2 January 2018 |title=Iran's enemies to blame for unrest, says supreme leader, as death toll rises |author=Səid Kəmali Dəğan və Culiyan Borqer |date=2018-01-02 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=2018-01-04 |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref>-25<ref name="Monde140118">{{cite web|url=http://lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2018/01/14/iran-le-bilan-officiel-des-manifestations-monte-a-25-morts_5241514_3218.html|title=Iran: le bilan officiel des manifestations monte à 25 morts|publisher=Le Monde with AFP|date=2018-01-14|access-date=2018-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191122160041/https://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2018/01/14/iran-le-bilan-officiel-des-manifestations-monte-a-25-morts_5241514_3218.html|archive-date=22 November 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> killed, 4,972 people arrested.<ref name="abcnews1">{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iran-lawmaker-3700-arrested-days-protest-unrest-52229059 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109160227/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iran-lawmaker-3700-arrested-days-protest-unrest-52229059 |archive-date=2018-01-09 |title=Iran lawmaker says some 3,700 arrested amid protests, unrest |author=Con Qambrell |date=2018-01-09 |work=ABC News |access-date=2018-01-10 |language=en }}</ref>
* [[2018–2019 Iranian general strikes and protests]]: Protests against economic hardships, government corruption, Iranian involvement in regional conflicts. 300+ arrested.
* [[2019–20 Iranian protests]]: Protest against government corruption, fuel price increases, human rights abuses, in favor of regime change. an estimated 1,500 killed,<ref name="do whatever">{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-protests-specialreport/special-report-irans-leader-ordered-crackdown-on-unrest-do-whatever-it-takes-to-end-it-idUSKBN1YR0QR|title=Special Report: Iran's leader ordered crackdown on unrest – 'Do whatever it takes to end it'|date=23 December 2019|access-date=23 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223095916/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-protests-specialreport/special-report-irans-leader-ordered-crackdown-on-unrest-do-whatever-it-takes-to-end-it-idUSKBN1YR0QR|archive-date=23 December 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> 7,000+ arrested.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191127-iran-arrests-7000-fuel-protesters-in-one-week|title=Iran arrests 7,000 fuel protesters in one week|date=27 November 2019|access-date=28 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127230132/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191127-iran-arrests-7000-fuel-protesters-in-one-week/|archive-date=27 November 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[2021–2022 Iranian protests]]: Protested the ongoing water shortages and blackouts of electricity all over Iran. An estimated 11 people killed, over 100 arrested.<ref name="Reuters-clash-26-11-21">{{cite news |title=Iranian police clash with protesters after water shortage rallies |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/protesters-police-clash-central-iran-after-rally-over-water-shortages-2021-11-26/ |access-date=6 September 2022 |work=Reuters |date=November 26, 2021}}</ref>