Shirin is unsure about what to make of the recent protests that have rocked Iran, including the 35-year-old's hometown of Sanandaj in the heart of Iranian Kurdistan. The region is afflicted with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. “The atmosphere in Sanandaj is intimidating, with so many armed security forces standing by the side of the streets,” she told Al-Monitor on the popular messaging app Telegram, which had 25 million daily active users inside Iran before the authorities reportedly moved to start filtering it. “People’s patience is wearing thin; they have lost the ability to meet their basic needs.”
Simmering discontent with mismanagement of the economy, high unemployment and the government’s declared intention to soon remove some of the critical subsidies that the poor have come to rely on for survival — all while spending huge sums of money on adventures in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen — are voiced by some protesters in confrontations that have left at least 22 people dead.