Iran: The Routes of 16 Azar

The most interesting news last night was low-key but noticeable. In early evening details of the routes for the protests of 16 Azar (7 December) spread across Twitter. There were references to new student movements organised in recent days.

It is still more than a week before National Students Day, but I have a sense that precisely because of the Government efforts to stamp out any significant dissent, particularly through the arrests of student activists, that the efforts to ensure a mass turnout have re-doubled. This may also be fuelled by the determination to show that the movement is not dependent on statements and actions "from the top" but is ready to press its demands at the grassroots.

The irony is that, on National Students Day, there will have to many non-students who are also on the streets. If the Government can represent this as "only" the protest of trouble-makers at universities --- because students, free from jobs and responsibility, are always the source of mischief --- then it will have contained the challenge.

8 days to go.