31 December 2017•Update: 01 January 2018
By Elahe Salari
TEHRAN, Iran
The ongoing demonstrations in Iran that began as a protest against the retrograde economic conditions of the country are being diverted to serve political aims within a short period of time, according to journalist and political expert Abbas Abdi on Sunday.
"It is clearly felt that the people who have been defeated in the latest presidential elections are happy to see these mass demonstrations," Abdi told Anadolu Agency.
Thousands of Iranians hit the streets in northeastern cities on Thursday to protest against rising commodity prices and perceived government mismanagement. The protest then turned into a nationwide anti-government demonstration.
The Iranian Students News Agency quoted Mashhad Governor Mohammad Rahim Norouzian as saying that police had eventually dispersed the protests, while more than 50 demonstrators had been taken into custody.
"Those who received high dividends for the money they invested started to demand their investment back following the losses, even though there was no guarantee of the government and the Central Bank," Abdi said, pointing out that demonstrations were caused by "submerged finance companies".
Abdi pointed out that since the majority of the wrecked finance companies were located in the northeastern province of Khorasan, the demonstrations began in Mashhad, a city located in the center of the province.
He noted that mistakes made in the field of during the period of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government were also among the causes behind the recent protests. "Of course, the incidents are only the beginning of this medium, apart from this, many people from the bottom layer of the society have been waiting for such an environment to express their voices."
But he underlined that economic issues were not the only reason behind the recent protests.
"It is clearly felt that the circles that were defeated in the presidential elections are happy to see these demonstrations but the main issue this group ignores is that the economic problem-based protests in Iran are being diverted quickly into the other medium, including the political one.”
Abdi also touched the impact of the incidents in Iran that could affect neighboring countries in the region.
"It is natural enough that the countries that do not have good relations with Iran are enjoying this situation. In the same way, Iran also enjoys if similar events in those countries,” he added.
He also mentioned that Iran was “not happy with the defeated coup attempt in Turkey last year” as it would have paved a way towards instability of the region.”
Similarly, countries that do not want instability in the region would not be happy with the developments in Iran, according to Abdi.
