国际英语资讯:News Analysis: Iran likely to contain protests, frustrate U.S. hopes: experts_时事

国际英语资讯:News Analysis: Iran likely to contain protests, frustrate U.S. hopes: experts

The protests that erupted late December 2017 in Iran are believed to be mainly triggered by the economic reform austerity measures that led to high inflation rates and price hikes in some basic food commodities, amid a high unemployment rate that reached 12.4 percent in 2017, according to the country's official statistics.

Hammad said that the protests in Iran are "no surprise" and that they had been expected since 2009, stressing that the Iranian government will contain them through new domestic economic policies that would appeal to the masses.

"Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stressed that the ongoing protests were a chance rather than a crisis, which means that they were expected by the regime and they did not surprise the government," he explained, expecting economic measures to be announced while the Iranian foreign relations remain the same after the unrest settlement.

According to some experts, the United States is the No.1 beneficiary of the ongoing unrest in Iran, which is in constant conflict with Israel, number one regional ally of the United States, and Saudi Arabia, Trump's oil-rich Gulf ally.

Others believe that the United States keeps adding fuel to the Sunni-Shiite conflict to make sure it would make good arm deals with Saudi Arabia that seeks U.S. protection.

Mohamed Fayyad, Egyptian expert in Iranian affairs, said that Iran's unrest serves the United States the most and that Washington wants to market itself as sponsor of anti-government public movements.