Iran protesters thank Trump, call for stronger sanctions

The U.S. government should zealously support the protests in Iran against the tyranny of this regime

 This is a historic moment. Thank heaven that to meet it, we have a president in the White House who stands for freedom and individual rights. Thanks to Barack Obama, the Iranian people who marched for freedom back in 2009 were routed, raped, and defeated en masse. The contrast couldn’t be more vivid between Trump’s immediate declaration of support for people yearning to be free versus Obama’s shrug, then silence, and ultimately support for the murdering mullahs.
The brutality of the 2009 crackdown on the Iranian people marching for freedom, for one man one vote, was impossible for those of us in the West to fathom. We heard the horror stories. We saw unarmed people meeting bullets with sheer will. But you cannot win this way.
We watched our president of the United States sanction the crushing suppression of a people who were yearning to be free. We witnessed our president sanction mass rape, torture, and the public hangings of innocent people by an Islamic regime that our president demanded for eight years that we respect.
Seven more years of crushing oppression followed. But now, I believe the election of President Trump empowered the Iranian people. The Iranian people have been waiting for eight years for another opportunity, and now, with Trump in the White House, they have seized the moment. The Iranian demonstrations are not over. The Islamic Republic is severely threatened, and Trump should keep up the pressure.
 “Iran protesters thank Trump, call for stronger sanctions,” by Eric Shawn, Fox News, January 13, 2018 (thanks to Patrick):
They are risking their lives to bring freedom to Iran, and vow to continue their protests.
“These uprisings have just begun. People are not at all willing to give up,” one activist told Fox News from the streets of Iran.
“Their patience has come to an end and they have nothing to lose. Iran will surely not fall down and people will not retreat from their demands.”
The defiance comes as President Trump announced Friday that he is waving sanctions against Iran under the controversial 2015 nuclear deal one last time, and gave the European allies four months to change the terms of the agreement or he may seek to scrap it.
The protesters we talked to demand even harsher sanctions.
“They should impose major sanctions on the regime,” one protester demanded. Another added there “should be sanctions for human rights violations.”
The protesters are members of the opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI , also known as the MEK). The group’s leader, Maryam Rajavi , has been directly blamed by the Iranian government for fomenting the unrest.
Social media videos show supporters unveiling large banners with Rajavi’s photo over highway overpasses, and continuing their opposition.
Punitive measures sought
The group is calling for Iran’s oil exports to also be subject to sanctions, the ability of the Tehran regime to access the international banking system to be cut off, as well as other punitive measures.
The activists predict stronger methods will work, and are thanking the president and the American public for keeping up the pressure.
“We thank you President Trump. We call on all of the supporters of the people who press this regime from different fronts, to put pressure with you and overthrow with us,” the activist told Fox News in broken English.
He and others said they are grateful that the Trump administration is expressing support for the resistance that has been staging many of the protests. The demonstrations started Dec. 28, and the government claims that they have largely been quelled.
That is why the activists are looking to the United States for inspiration — and more help.
“Iranian people want to achieve a democratic and independent government, and play a role in it,” said one.
“In Iran taxis and buses and public places, you heard people talking that they are happy that the United States and President Trump is actually taking actions on the side of the Iranian people and as you know, the overthrow of this regime and establishment of a free country is in the interest of the entire world.
“This support should continue, and years of appeasement should end. People are very determined and do not retreat despite this severe crackdown.”
The demonstrators deny the protests are largely over. Videos posted on social media show activists attacking government outposts, such as firebombing police stations, destroying government property, and chanting anti-regime slogans.

Common goal

Fox News interviewed the protesters through a social media app that demonstrators have been using to evade the government crackdown on the internet.
The protesters we interviewed asked that their locations remain hidden, and their voices altered or not even used at all, out of fears that they could be identified by the government and arrested.
But they all expressed a common goal. They insisted the movement will not end until the hardline theocratic regime is finally ousted.
“To reach this goal they know the value of the support,” one activist told us.
The support from the White House has included President Trump’s harsh criticism of the regime and its treatment of the demonstrators.
On Jan. 3, Trump tweeted: “Such respect for the people of Iran as they try to take back their corrupt government. You will see great support from the United States at the appropriate time!”
Earlier this week a White House statement condemned the regime and its mass arrests of protesters. It also said “reports that the regime has tortured or killed some of these demonstrators while in detention are even more disturbing. We will not remain silent as the Iranian dictatorship represses the basic rights of its citizens and will hold Iran’s leaders accountable for any violations.”
One activist was so scared that he refused to talk, and instead texted this about the president’s views.
“He is correct and we approve of what he spoke. He should help the Iranian people. We need internet because the internet in Iran is banned. We ask President Trump to convince European Union to ban the Mullah. We want President Trump to widespread Iranian sound all over the world and show Mullah’s injustice to the people of the world.”

‘Obama failed to act’

In announcing the waiver decision, the president appeared to do just that. The White House statement included several references to the regime’s treatment of the protesters:
“The Supreme Leader and his Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps use mass arrests and torture to oppress and silence Iran’s people. … We are calling on all nations to lend similar support to the Iranian people, who are suffering under a regime that is stifling basic freedoms and denying its citizens the opportunity to build better lives for their families — an opportunity that is every human being’s God-given right. …
“President Obama failed to act as the Iranian people took to the streets in 2009. He turned a blind eye as Iran built and tested dangerous missiles and exported terror. … (The Iran deal) has served as a slush fund for weapons, terror and oppression, and to further line the pockets of corrupt regime leaders. The Iranian people know this, which is one reason why so many have taken to the streets to express their outrage.”
The president’s comments slamming the regime have been echoed by other top administration officials as well.
“Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world,” Vice President Mike Pence told the Voice of America earlier this month. “To see the people of Iran rising up, to demand change in their country, should hearten every freedom loving American and people who cherish freedom around the world.”
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the U.N. Security Council last week, “They (the protesters) are acting of their own will, on their own behalf, for their own future. Nothing will stop Americans from standing in solidarity with them. In 2009, the world stood by passively while the hopes of the Iranian people were crushed by their government. In 2018, we will not be silent.”

Thousands arrested

The NCRI says there have been demonstrations in at least 132 cities and that upwards of 8,000 protesters have been arrested. One Iranian lawmaker was quoted as saying the number was closer to about 4,000.
One activist texted us that his motivation to overthrow the ruling regime, is simple.
“We have no life in Iran. Our life and death is equal. We have nothing to miss. We want freedom. Just poverty, unemployment and corruption is the result of the Mullah regime … young people are unemployed. Educated people escape to other countries. Our country has a brain drain problem. The regime does not concern the Iranian people and suppresses any protest and throws people in jail. We want Mr. (Trump) to help us in whatever way he knows.”…

Eight Executes in Iran amid nationwide uprising to intimidate the people

Iran Executes 8 prisoners amid uprisings

 Simultaneous with the nationwide uprising of the Iranian people and in order to intimidate the people, the mullahs’ regime’s executioners executed eight young prisoners in various cities in the period of January 1 to January 11.
On Thursday, January 11, two prisoners were executed publicly in Salmas and Qazvin. The prisoner executed in Salmas suffered from mental illness. The young man executed in Qazvin Prison was on death row for eight years.
On January 8, two prisoners were executed in Sari and on January 4; two other prisoners were executed in Gohardasht, Karaj. Amir Hossein Pour Jafar, one of the executed, was 16 years old at the time of committing alleged crime. On January 2, a prisoner was executed in Dizelabad prison in Kermanshah, and the day before, a 22-year-old youth was executed in Mashhad Central Prison.
These executions are taking place while 8,000 young people are arrested during the first two weeks of the uprising of the Iranian people and are in grave conditions.
The Iranian opposition the National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ), urges all international human rights organizations to adopt immediate and effective steps to counter the systematic and brutal violations of human rights in Iran.

Trump Stops Short of Reimposing Iran Sanctions but Sets Deadline to Overhaul Deal

President Trump Holds Cabinet Meeting At The White House

President Trump again stopped short of reimposing punitive sanctions on Iran that could break up its nuclear deal with world powers, the White House said on Friday. But Mr. Trump gave European allies only 120 days to agree to an overhaul of the deal or administration officials said he would pull the United States out of it.

He also approved sanctions against the head of Iran’s judiciary, Sadeq Larijani, a powerful figure whom the administration holds culpable for the violent crackdown on recent antigovernment protests.

Mr. Larijani is the most prominent of several Iranian officials and entities blacklisted, a roster of 14 individuals and entities that also includes the cyber unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the United States said has repressed social media networks that protesters can use to share information.

Iran did not immediately react to the announcement, though officials said they were prepared if Mr. Trump had decided to act. Iran’s first vice president, Eshagh Jahangiri, told the semiofficial ISNA news agency, “If the Americans withdraw from the nuclear deal, we will not hold a mourning service; we are fully prepared for any likely event.”

White House officials played up the sanctions against Mr. Larijani as a symbol of Mr. Trump’s displeasure with the Islamic Republic’s government — and solidarity with those who are rallying against it. They predicted that the move would reverberate politically inside Iran, since Mr. Larijani’s brother, Ali Larijani, is the head of Iran’s parliament.

Mr. Trump’s decision came after a Thursday meeting with his national security team on a turbulent day, during which he made a vulgar reference to immigrants in a meeting with senators and told The Wall Street Journal, “I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong-un,” referring to the North Korean leader.

Starting on Friday, Mr. Trump faces a series of deadlines related to the Iran nuclear deal and sanctions that were waived as a result of it. The first of those deadlines — for extending or terminating the waiver for the central bank and oil sanctions — is by far the most significant.

In October, Mr. Trump refused to certify the agreement — a decision he is expected to reaffirm next week. At the time, the president warned that he would take further action to nullify the deal if Congress and the allies did not act.

“In the event we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies,” he said, “then the agreement will be terminated.”

Republicans in the Senate have drafted legislation that would amend the deal by eliminating its “sunset provisions.”

On Thursday, hours before Mr. Trump made his decision, European foreign ministers met in Brussels with Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, ostensibly to press Tehran about its destabilizing activities in the region, which are putting the nuclear deal at risk.

The European Union ’s foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, said, “The deal is working — it is delivering on its main goal, which means keeping the Iranian nuclear program in check and under close surveillance.”

In a phone call, President Emmanuel Macron of France also urged Mr. Trump not to scrap the deal. Mr. Macron “reaffirmed France’s determination to see the agreement strictly enforced and the importance for all of its signatories to abide by it,” his office said in a statement.

Privately, some White House officials complained about the phone call with Mr. Macron, which they said could have provoked Mr. Trump. Others said the diplomatic meeting in Brussels was similarly ill-conceived, and they expressed frustration that the legislative efforts in Congress were not progressing quickly enough

Maryam Rajavi’s Opinion in Wall Street Journal: These Iranian Protests Are Different From 2009

Maryam Rajavi; the people are demanding an end to the regime

Then, the cause was a rift within the regime. Now, the people are demanding an end to the regime.
The protests in Iran send a cogent message: The clerical regime stands on shaky ground, and the Iranian people are unwavering in their quest to bring it down. Slogans against velayat-e faqih, or absolute clerical rule, called for a real republic and explicitly targeted the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani . This dispels the myth, still harbored by some governments, that Iranians distinguish between moderates and hard-liners in Tehran. It also undercuts flawed arguments depicting a stable regime.
Millions of Iranians live in poverty. Yet Tehran has spent upward of $100 billion on the massacre in Syria, according to reports obtained by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The chants of “Death to Hezbollah” and “Leave Syria, think about us instead” clearly demonstrate the people’s opposition to the regime’s belligerent regional schemes.
The country’s official budget this year allocates more than $26.8 billion to military and security affairs and the export of terrorism. This is in addition to the $27.5 billion in military spending from institutions controlled by Mr. Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The budget for health care is a mere $16.3 billion. Weak and vulnerable, the regime spends such astronomical sums on regional meddling as part of its strategy for survival.
Skeptics might point out that Iran has faced protests before. What makes the current uprising different from the 2009 protests?
The 2009 protests were sparked by rifts at the top of the regime. The current protests—which began in Iran’s second-largest city of Mashhad and quickly spread across the country—were motivated by rising prices, economic ruin, widespread corruption and resentment toward the regime. This systemic economic mismanagement has its roots in the political system, and it grows worse every day. That is why the demand for regime change surfaced almost immediately. It seems to be the only conceivable outcome.
Another major difference: The 2009 uprising was initially led by the upper middle class, with university students at its core and Tehran as its center. The recent demonstrations span a much broader swath of the population—the middle class, the underprivileged, workers, students, women and young people. Nearly all of society has been represented on the picket line.
Nor is the current uprising tied to any of the regime’s internal factions or groupings. There are no illusions about reform or gradual change from within. One of the popular slogans in Tehran is “Hard-liners, reformers, the game is now over.” This is yet another sign of the certainty of overthrow. As an Iranian expression goes: Maybe sooner or later, but definitely certain.
The final differentiating factor is the pace of events. In less than 24 hours, the protesters’ slogans shifted from economic woes to rejection of the entire regime. The establishment has been caught off guard and is scrambling to find a unified solution. The IRGC declared victory over the protests on Sunday, but this reflects its hopes more than the reality on the ground.
The regime has issued strong warnings against joining the leading opposition group, Mujahedin-e Khalq. One after another, low-ranking and senior officials, joined by the Friday prayer leaders across the country who toe the regime’s line, blame the MEK for the protests. The torrent of statements by regime officials reflect their panic at the expansion of the nationwide uprising and the rising popularity of the MEK and the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
The religious dictatorship has resorted to extensive suppression to confront protesters. The IRCG has killed at least 50 people and wounded hundreds. By the end of the ninth day of protests, at least 3,000 had been arrested, according to our sources in the country. Numerous reports indicate that security forces literally knock on people’s doors and warn them against attending demonstrations. The net of suppression has been cast as wide as possible.
In light of this brutal repression, the international community must not remain silent. The United Nations Security Council must adopt punitive measures against the regime’s crimes. This has long been the demand of the Iranian people and opposition. We must not forget that the perpetrators of the horrific 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners are still in power today, holding senior executive and judicial positions while engaging in the murder of protesters in the streets.
Perhaps the final difference between the 2009 protests and the recent uprising will be that the latter succeeds in overthrowing the reviled theocracy in Iran. The people of Iran fervently hope so.
Mrs. Rajavi is president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an Iranian opposition coalition based in Paris.

The Original Article Appeared in the January 9, 2018, of the WSJ.

Iran Protests: What We Are Learning

Brave protesters overcoming fears and standing up to regimes security forces.

 The future of Iran’s protests is on the minds of many as the fate of this strategically important state remains in limbo. This subject gains even more importance considering U.S. President Donald Trump’s upcoming Friday is decision on the controversial Iran nuclear deal this Friday.

Iran’s state media claims the protests have come to an end, a result similar to that of 2009. Yet the world is witnessing how further cities and towns are expressing their abhorrence over the ruling elite.

This status quo is a struggle between the Iranian people literally fed up with this regime and a dictatorship weakened from domestic unrest, internal rifts and international pressures.

Escalating matters far beyond previous scenes of nationwide protests in 2009 and 1999 is the clear reference made by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to the party behind these rallies.

“As well as Washington and London, Khamenei blamed the violence on Israel, exiled dissident group People’s Mujahedin of Iran and ‘a wealthy government’ in the Gulf, a probable reference to Iran’s regional rival, Saudi Arabia,” according to Reuters.

Tehran pointing fingers at Washington, London, Israel and the Saudis is nothing new. Yet Khamenei mentioning the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) is of quite significance, indicating the main source of his regime’s concerns.

This recent wave of protests is setting the grounds with new sets of rules and understandings.

1) The Iranian people no longer fear in expressing their true feelings, seen in the nationwide slogan of “Death to Khamenei.” Such a brave measure in the past would bear the potential of earning you a heavy prison term, if not a death sentence.

 

2) Unlike previous uprisings, these demonstrations are mushrooming across the country, reaching over 130 cities and towns, according to activists. Places less heard of before, such as Izeh, Dorud, Shahin Shahr and etc. are now seen leading the growing wave of protests. Brave demonstrators are threatening the regime’s very pillars to an extent that security forces have opened fire and killed dozens of protesters, arresting thousands, according to reports.

3) From the second day of this uprising protesters have shown their overcoming of prior fears through responding to the security forces’ attacks and quelling. State vehicles, motorcycles, makeshift police stations and other facilities are being set ablaze by protesters in response to the regime’s unbridled crackdown.

4) For years Iranian state media and its lobbies in the West have been claiming this entity enjoys vast popular support. Various campaigns, including a Twitter hashtag #بسيجي_نيستم (I’m not a Basiji), reveal the regime’s woes, as a growing number of Revolutionary Guards Basij paramilitary members are seen joining the protesters’ ranks.

5) Iran is showing a major vulnerability in its intolerance of social media platforms. The government is filtering the popular Telegram messaging app – said to have 40 million members in Iran – in yet another attempt to prevent protesters from joining force and the entire population from receiving unfiltered information from the outside world.

This makes the necessity of providing unrestricted access to the Iranian populace all the more vital.

6) In far contrast to 2009, the U.S. administration is powerfully standing alongside the Iranian people. This nation continues to suffer from the wounds of Obama extending his hand to Khamenei in their time of need. This time around, however, President Trump and senior administration officials are standing shoulder to shoulder with the Iranian people’s legitimate demands while placing Tehran on notice.

To some extent the Iranian people also enjoy the support of Canada, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. More effort is necessary in this regard, as European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is meeting today with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to discuss the fate of the Iran nuclear deal, and only discussing human rights violations in Iran and the recent protests very briefly.

7) Despite the detention of over 3,000 protesters, the Iranian people are not silent. As in Tehran, families and other protesters are seen demanding the release of political prisoners and recently detained demonstrators. On January 9th, facing escalating demands outside the notorious Evin Prison , authorities had no choice but to release four political prisoners. This has the potential of becoming a turning point in the regime’s crackdown against protesters.

8) Iran is known for four decades of human rights violations. The referral of this highly sensitive dossier to the United Nations Security Council in less than a week after the spark of these protests is a point of no return for Tehran, knowing the issue of human rightsviolations,  restricting freedom of speech and internet access will no longer go unnoticed by the world’s highest decision making body.

9) Speaking of no return, the myth of Iran’s “reformist” and/or “moderate” currents is now considered an issue of the past. This hurdle, dating back to the presidency of Hashemi Rafsanjani and even the prime ministry of Mir Hossein Mousavi in the 1980s, has been preventing any serious discussion of regime change. The “reformist” illusion is now evaporating as protesters are heard chanting, “Reformist, principalists, end of story.”

10) Parallel to all other developments, the nature of many outlets and social media channels is surfacing, making it clear for all who is who, and their affiliations to the ruling regime. The past two weeks have been crucial in making it crystal clear for the Iranian people which outlet of any kind provides unbiased information, and which merely are beating the regime’s drums, according to activists.

11) In another reference to 2009, on December 30th of that year Tehran launched a pro-regime rally claiming of ending the “sedition”. Each year this day has been an opportunity for the regime to stage such marches and provide hand-picked images to the outside world, in its claiming of a vast social base. To this day Tehran has being failing to stage a pro-regime rally worthy of dubbing as a strong response to the nationwide protesters demanding regime change.

As a result, two weeks into the groundbreaking protests, this popular movement is proving it bears the capability of overcoming previously impossible odds. In response, the ruling regime has no solution to provide for the people’s valid demands, while lacking the will of resorting to all-out crackdown, fearing Iran’s powder-keg and a strong international response.

As a result, conditions are set for fundamental regime change in Iran. In these new circumstances, even the smallest protest rally bears the power of a massive demonstration by reigniting hope in people’s hearts and stretching the regime’s resources, making it incapable of delivering the response it needs to quell this ongoing uprising.

Change should be realized by the Iranian people. The U.S. and the international community, however, should provide unrestricted internet access to all Iranians and impose meaningful sanctions against the ruling regime, with the state radio and television IRIB network. 

I am a political/rights activist focusing on Iran & the Middle East. I also write in Al Arabiya English, and contributed to The Federalist, The Hill and Raddington Report. I tweet @HeshmatAlavi

America can and should help the cause of freedom in Iran

Utilizing our economic, political, and technological might, rather than armed intervention, the United States should rectify past inaction and amplify the voices of Iranians.

Cracks are forming in the iron grip of the Iranian regime. The latest wave of protests sweeping Iran demonstrates yet again that dictatorial regimes are inherently doomed because they lack the enduring consent of the people they rule.
Yet just as our forefathers required foreign assistance to finally shed the chains of tyranny, we too must stand with the Iranian people as they defy their oppressors. Utilizing our economic, political, and technological might, rather than armed intervention, the United States should rectify past inaction and amplify the voices of Iranians.
For nearly four decades, the mullahs in Tehran have used brutality and religious zeal to cling to power and steal from the Iranian people. When they seized power in 1979, they were part of a larger, ideologically diverse movement opposed to the monarchical rule of the Shah. The Islamist clerics led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, however, turned on their revolutionary comrades and imposed theocratic rule once the monarchy fell. Thousands of Iranians of different political stripes were executed without trial while many more, such as members of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran, were forced into exile. Whatever promise many Iranians thought would come in 1979 proved to be a mirage that replaced one corrupt dictator with another.
Since then, the theocrats in Tehran have wasted their nation’s vast resources on their violent regional ambitions, sponsoring terrorism and militancy from Lebanon to Yemen. However, it is the Iranian people more than any that have endured the persistent brutality of the supreme leader and his Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps thugs. We witnessed this in 2009, when thousands of Iranians took to the street to reject the rigged election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad . The subsequent crackdown by the regime killed dozens and imprisoned thousands more in an attempt to silence an emerging opposition.
In spite of the blatant savagery by Iran’s rulers, the Obama administration said little. Upon coming to office, President Obama and his national security staff had softened America’s tone towards the extremist government in Tehran as part of broader policy of appeasement that culminated in the Iran nuclear deal. The shameful response by the Obama administration in the face of such savagery was all too reminiscent of American inaction during the Hungarian uprising in 1956 against the Soviet Union. That sad chapter in American leadership crushed the hopes of millions living behind the Iron Curtain. Succeeding Cold War presidents pointedly saw that America could not remain silent to Soviet oppression. Today we must echo the bold leadership of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, who are forever immortalized by their outspoken criticism of the evil empire. Their words emboldened fledgling democratic movements throughout Eastern Europe and ultimately contributed to the peaceful demise of the Soviet empire.
America still holds a unique duty as leader of the free world. For more than two centuries, the United States has been a symbol and protector of liberty around the globe. Our shining example of government of the people, by the people, and for the people has inspired generations to demand more from their rulers. When the American government heeds the call of those in bondage, it provides an immeasurable assurance of hope that they do not suffer in silence.
My congressional colleagues and I are watching the current protests in Iran closely. What started as a protest of the poor economic conditions inside Iran quickly sharpened its focus toward the regime that is responsible for the country’s ills. If there is any silver lining to the misguided nuclear agreement the Obama administration struck with Tehran, it is that the billions of dollars delivered to the mullahs has exposed their corruption. The Iranian people have rightly seen that despite the removal of sanctions, they are no better off because the wealth of their nation is being hoarded by the ayatollah and his IRGC goons to spread terror externally.
Our support can be more than just encouraging words. We can harness the innovation of the U.S. tech industry to allow Iranians the ability to securely communicate with each other and the outside world. Through their bravery, they can document the atrocities of the regime which we can then use to prosecute on the world stage. I welcome President Trump’s leadership on the cause of the Iranian people and urge my colleagues that now is the time that we must act.

 

Ted Poe, a Republican representing Texas' second congressional district, is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and serves as chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade.

The failed policies of the Iranian regime caused the people to uprise, Mike Pompeo said

CIA director, Mike Pompeo

President Trump brought senior members of his national security team along with him to Camp David this weekend to brief Republican leaders in Congress about a range of foreign issues facing the U.S. Among an array of issues to discuss, was the massive protests in Iran.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo was one of the administration officials on hand at Camp David to keep lawmakers abreast of the U.S. position on foreign policy issues.
Mr. Pompeo was interviewed on Jan. 7th on CBS Face the nation, where he was asked a number of questions regarding the security and foreign policy of the United States. 
The interview also covered the continuous protests and uprisings in Iran. 
John Dickerson of CBS asked the CIA director that in Iran, what's the significance of the protests so far? And is this a turning point? Or is this just a flash point and the regime will continue to have power?
Mr. Pompeo replied 'Difficult to know analytically if this is a turning point. But it is different. The protests that we saw in 1999 and 2009 were from elites. This was not that. These were ordinary Iranians. The same people who would enlist in the IRGC, their neighbors are now the ones out protesting. They're protesting because they've seen the failed promises of Rouhani and Zarif, that they haven't been able to deliver the economic outcomes that they said. They said they'd get the JCPOA and food would be plentiful, that commerce would reign, and that jobs would arise. And that simply hasn't happened.
Dickerson asked, so in that sense has the Iran deal forced destabilization in Iran? And is therefore that good for- in terms of U.S. interests?
Mike Pompeo said 'what is clear is that there have been economic difficulties in Iran in places outside of Tehran. There is massive unemployment. What the Iranian people were promised, has not happened. They can see that. And thus they have taken to the streets.