U.S.-Iran Tensions Have Set Back Middle East Street Protests
Hostility between Washington and Tehran has made it harder for protesters in Iran and Iraq to press for political change.
While both the U.S. and Iran appear to have pulled back from further military strikes, Carnegie Endowment's Karim Sadjadpour highlights Iran's regional strengths and explains how they can be used to put geopolitical stress onto the Western world. Photo: Getty Images
Jared Malsin
BiographyJared Malsin
@jmalsin
jared.malsin@wsj.com
Jan. 10, 2020 11:58 am ET
CAIRO—The spike in tensions between the U.S. and Iran has made it harder for pro-democracy movements to press for more political freedoms in Iran, Iraq and across the Middle East, even if the desire for change is seldom far from the surface.
The antigovernment rallies that have defined the region in recent months were put on a back burner after a U.S. airstrike killed Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Iraq last week. The attack, which also killed a top Iraqi paramilitary leader, Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, drove millions of mourners...