Interviewers:
Lyna Ouandjeli (Researcher, and Head of Collaborative Projects at EISMENA)
Héloïse Liebenberg (Intern Analyst)
In this interview, Marie Ladier-Fouladi (sociologist and demographer, honorary Research Director at CNRS) analyzes Iran’s recent protest wave in the broader history of mobilizations since 1979. She explains how economic grievances have increasingly turned into political demands, what changed between 2017–2019 and the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, and why questions of leadership, organization, diaspora narratives, and external pressure all shape the trajectory of protest—and repression.
Chapters:
00:00:00 – Introduction: Iran’s new wave of protests
00:00:47 – Guest introduction: Marie Ladier-Fouladi
00:02:02 – Protest cycles since 1979: historical perspective
00:04:16 – Stepping back: how to read the current moment
00:09:20 – 2017–2019: economic protests, fuel prices, and deadly repression
00:12:00 – “Woman, Life, Freedom”: a shift in slogans and political meaning
00:15:00 – Who is mobilizing today: workers, retirees, students, cost of living
00:18:40 – State responses & opposition narratives: subsidies, confusion, repression
00:22:00 – External “support” and why it can backfire inside Iran
00:27:30 – Diaspora dynamics, leadership claims, and the monarchy debate
00:35:00 – “What comes after?” Why the political model question comes later
00:42:51 – How the regime maintains control: IRGC, Basij, surveillance, fear
00:47:34 – Economic control tools: subsidies, databases, “head of household” system
00:55:01 – U.S. tensions, war logic, and regime legitimacy
00:59:10 – Closing Watch, share, and
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