Iran’s security council expects anti-regime protests to return as economic woes worsen — report

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council convened recently amid concerns that the mass protests that plunged the country into chaos back in January could soon begin anew, the Iranian opposition outlet Iran International reports.

The meeting was called after internal intelligence reports suggested that conditions were ripe for renewed protests, due to rising prices, high unemployment rates, and damage to key industries as a result of the US-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic, the outlet reports.

Specifically, it says that damage to the country’s petrochemical and steel industries could become the main trigger for renewed civil unrest.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Iran International reports that the council believes a new round of protests to be inevitable, and a matter of when, not if.

Some of the officials are said to believe the protests could renew sooner rather than later, it adds, as labor groups inside Iran and out have called for demonstrations on the country’s International Workers’ Day on May 1.

With the outbreak of war with Iran on February 28, Israeli and US officials initially insisted that one of the key goals of the fighting was to topple the Islamic Republic and enable regime change.

As the weeks went by, however, some admitted that this may not be an achievable goal, and the IDF said it wasn’t concerning itself with the goal of toppling the regime.