Every decade or so, a mass protest erupts in Iran that shocks the government, each round targeting the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy more directly than the last. As if on cue, demonstrations took place over the past two weeks, ushering in the country’s most widespread unrest since the Green Movement rose up to protest Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection in 2009. On December 28, protests over the high cost of living erupted in at least nine locations. Within days, unrest had swept through 80 cities and towns all over the country, leaving 20 dead and thousands detained. While the protesters’ particular grievances were many, the overall message was one of rage against poor governance as well as the ruling system’s abdication of its responsibility to fight for social justice and egalitarianism — two central tenets of the Islamic revolution. Click here to read the full article.