Controlling the Narrative of the Protest Movement in Iran

by Dr. Amin Tarzi

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 2,177, February 2, 2023

Executive Summary: When popular protests began in Iran in mid-September 2022, the regime of the Islamic Republic initially tried to portray them as sporadic disturbances by misguided individuals who were supported and encouraged by the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and a few European countries. As the protests intensified and began to spread throughout the country, the regime subtly yet systematically shifted the blame onto two non-Persian, predominantly Sunni regions of the country: Kurdistan in the northwest and Sistan and Baluchistan in the southeast. While the protests have lost some of their intensity, the regime’s object is to taint the message of popular protest movements and muddy their message by linking them to separatist aspirations in those regions and foreign meddling.