26 NEWSWEEK.COM
INTERNATIONAL
subsidies as the catalyst—it’s not about minority rights.”
Even with limited success in its infiltration, ISIS
managed to strike at the heart of the Islamic Re-
public in June 2017. Less than two months after ISIS
released a Persian-language video, several Sunni
Muslim Kurdish militants aligned with the group
staged twin attacks on the Iranian parliament and
the shrine to the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Eighteen people were killed.
Mayhem erupted again in September with dra-
matic scenes of civilians taking cover and soldiers
carrying bloodied children in Ahvaz. Gunmen
opened fire at a Revolutionary Guard parade com-
memorating the Iran-Iraq War—during which
Saddam Hussein also tried to foster Arab sepa-
ratism in Khuzestan—in an ambush that killed
two dozen people, half of them soldiers, and was
claimed by both ISIS and Ahvazi Arab separatists.
A week later, the night skies over Iran’s Kerman-
shah and Kurdistan were illuminated with the flames
of Zulfiqar and Qiam missiles as they flew hundreds
of miles clear across Iraq and into the eastern Syrian
province of Deir Ezzor, an ISIS stronghold at the time
under assault by forces backed by Washington and
Tehran. The unprecedented strike was seen not only
as a message to ISIS, but as a testament to Iran’s missile
prowess directed toward its top three national foes.
Iran often blames the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia
for fomenting discord within the country in an at-
tempt to overthrow a government they view as desta-
bilizing to the region. No conclusive evidence of such
a conspiracy regarding the current demonstrations
has emerged, though top Washington figures, such
as war hawk former National Security Adviser John
Bolton, have openly courted opposition forces like the
People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, or Mujahe-
din-e-Khalq (MEK) and Ahvazi Arab separatists.
Back in Tehran, journalist Reza Khaasteh said he
doesn’t “think protesters agree with such secessionist
ideologies, and must be afraid of such groups exploit-
ing their legitimate demands from the government.”
Local university student Kiarash (who asked to
be identified by his first name only) said, for Ira-
nians, “the trauma of the previous ISIS attack on
Iran still hangs around in our mind.” He added:
“Whether or not these demonstrations could lead to
instability caused by ISIS or separatist groups, the
fear of it exists in the public. A majority of Iranians
are worried that in case of a military conflict with
A COUNTRY IN TURMOIL
(Clockwise, from right) A
wounded man, suspected
of being part of ISIS, in a
Syrian prison cell; Iranian
mourners surround the
FRIɿQVRI5HYROXWLRQDU\
Guards killed in a suicide
attack; a Tehran bank
branch damaged in
SURWHVWVRYHUIXHOSULFH
KLNHV +DVVDQ5RXKDQL
Iran’s current president.