IRAN: PROTESTS ESCALATE

Iran has been rocked by deadly protests after the death of Mahsa Amini three days after she was arrested by the morality police earlier this month. 

The “crime” the 22-year-old woman allegedly committed was that she was not properly wearing her hijab in public. She was arrested on 13 September and reports indicate that she was badly beaten while in custody. She fell into a coma and died three days later. Some photos circulated online purporting to show Amini in the hospital with serious bruises to her face. Iran said she died of a heart attack and that her death was from natural causes, the UN said.

The amount of people taking to the streets and the persistence of the protests that’s been going on for nearly two weeks is the most significant since 2009’s Green Movement.

The official death toll as of Monday afternoon is 41, but the actual number is expected to be much higher. The Guardian, citing Amnesty International, reported that Iranian security forces have been employing live ammunition to quell the protests. Silencing opposition and keeping the facts of what is going on and how bad it is, Tehran has cracked down on the country’s internet. 

TREND FORECAST: While the protests have focused on Amini’s death, this was a spark that ignited pent up aggravations of lack of basic living standards, dissatisfaction with government rule and a faltering economy. (See “NEW STUDY CEMENTS TRENDS JOURNAL FORECAST: THE NEW WORLD DISORDER.”) Indeed, what is happening in Iran is, and will continue to escalate worldwide as people take to the streets in protest of the lack of basic living standards, government corruption, crime and violence. 

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At least 450 people were arrested in Mazandaran, a northern province, alone.

The protests started after her burial and the word spread on social media. The young lady’s father, Amjad Amini told the BBC that he was not allowed to view the autopsy report and he has not been heard from since he made the claim.

Across Iran, protesters chanted, “Death to the dictator” and “Women, life, and freedom.”

TRENDPOST: Iran’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi, who has been accused of playing a role in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988, is known as the Butcher of Tehran. The 60-year-old replaced President Hassan Rouhani in early August. When Rouhani was asked about Raisi in 2017 he said his opponent only knew about “executions and imprisoning” people.

The Times noted that since Raisi became president, he “has set out to reverse the legacy of his reformist predecessor.” The paper noted a recent New Yorker article that read, “On multiple fronts, Raisi has ferociously swung the pendulum back to the kind of xenophobic policies and tone-deaf rhetoric witnessed during the Revolution’s early days.”

The magazine noted that Raisi lost his temper when criticized about his country’s crackdown on protesters after last week’s meeting at the UN. 

“How many times in the United States, men and women are killed every day at the hands of law enforcement personnel?” he asked.

We have been forecasting the “New World Disorder” trend for more than two years. We noted that politicians across the globe are fighting for survival against angry citizens who are taking to the streets in protest of lack of basic living standards, government corruption, crime and violence. (See “NEW WORLD DISORDER TOP TREND: NATIONS SINKING DEEPER, PEOPLE SCREAMING LOUDER.”) 

Also, the deeper emerging market economies sink, the greater the refugee crisis will surge as people will do all they can to escape to safe haven nations. In turn, anti-immigration populist movements will gain power in those nations that want to restrict more refugees.