Students Roil Iranian Capital in 3rd Night of Protests

Violent and vocal, Iranian students marched in protest again this week. The immediate stimulus was a government proposal to privatize the universities, but, according to one government worker who joined in, "For 25 years we have lived without any freedom. We want social freedom, economic freedom and political freedom." Cell phone calls by protesters to a Persian-language television station in Los Angeles prompted broadcasters to call on all Iranians to flood the streets. Hundreds got into their cars and went down to see the demonstration, joining the students in their chants. Facing demands for regime change, Ayatolla Khamenei is threatening merciless retaliation on those “acting in the interest of foreign powers” and is pointing to the US as the cause of the unrest. Whether the US will attempt a military intervention remains to be seen, but it is certainly a possibility in the minds of many in Tehran. – YaleGlobal