What do Iranians want – and how can they achieve it?

A normal life. A simple life. A dignified life. That is what most Iranians say they want.

How to achieve that – and who could provide such conditions – are often points of contention. Grievances with the current clerical leadership have spurred frequent demonstrations in recent decades, but few as widespread or deadly as those which have gripped Iran this month.

Weeks of protests that started in late December amounted to the largest civil unrest in Iran in more than a decade, and resulted in the deaths of nearly 4,000 people, most of them protesters, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

A bank in Tehran that was set on fire during protests triggered by economic concerns. EPA

The protests began as a response to a calamitous drop in the value of the Iranian rial against the US dollar, but spread to encompass political demands for an end to restrictive clerical rule under supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Iranian government said legitimate demonstrations over economic conditions had been hijacked by US and Israeli-sponsored rioters who killed protesters and members of the security forces. Many Iranians refute those accusations.

What Iranians want

But while the status quo has prevailed, many do not agree with it. They see Iran’s clerical leadership as glorifying a 47-year-old Islamic revolution that does not reflect their needs or desires.

In interviews, a dozen Iranians in the Turkish border city of Van, those in Europe and in the US described anger and frustration over what they see as the clerical leadership's mishandling of the economy and prioritisation of regional influence over the people's quality of life. They begrudge widespread restrictions on their lifestyles, including what they wear, how they socialise, what music they listen to and what television stations they watch.

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