Holly Dagres
@hdagres · Iran watchers, nuclear experts & opposition
Holly Dagres writes The Iranist newsletter and analyzes Iranian society and internet culture.
LSAC, which administers the LSAT entrance exam for law school, has been blocked from offering services to Iranian citizens due to new Iran sanctions, but they're apparently overcomplying and denying their services to Green Card holders and US citizens of Iranian heritage. https://t.co/JatCDHl0Hc
"Top White House advisers have raised privately with President Trump the prospect that the Iran war could drag on through the remainder of his term..." Tehran did that with Carter—why wouldn't they with Trump? The problem is Iran's economy is in shambles. https://t.co/sNXw2kTiCS
And Tehran knows the international community will mostly sit on its hands. The Islamic Republic massacred thousands in January, and all it got was a slap on the wrist: an EU IRGC designation and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi uninvited to Davos.
The Trump administration is doing everything it can to turn up the pressure cooker to get Iranians into the streets and force Tehran into making a deal—assuming it works at all. Basically, the lives of ordinary Iranians are merely pawns in Trump’s game.
Iran-based activist Sepideh Qolian: "Kids, seriously things are really bad. I can’t even tell anymore whether prices are in rials or tomans. I honestly don’t understand why I should have to work this much just to survive. I can’t believe the dollar is going up by the minute, the shadow of war is hanging over us, our economic situation is this, and every day the judiciary is killing people by hanging them. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what we’re supposed to do. And yet some people just keep analyzing our situation as usual; My jaw drops and I say, does this person really understand the situation we’re trapped in right now?"
After the Dec 2017-Jan 2018 protests, then President Hassan Rouhani said that if the Islamic Republic doesn't get its act together, they'll go like the Shah. That being said, Rouhani lost credibility with hardliners due to the JCPOA signing, and with anti-regime Iranians because of the bloody November 2019 crackdown.
"More than $1 billion in oil revenues entered Iran during the first 11 days of the period ending Sept. 2... [Fars News Agency] said oil-related foreign currency was added to the country's foreign exchange reserves during the period." Hmm 🧐 https://t.co/StLdY7vruH
UPDATE: There's a heightened security presence in the streets of various Iranian cities due to concerns of potential unrest over the gasoline price increase.
Nika, an Iranian activist, was deported to CAR for a 3-month stay. She fears she'll be sent back to Iran, where her life is at risk. "...she struggles to understand how the country she believed would protect her would be the one that sent her away."https://t.co/3vTu8Gx7fI
"Iran has emerged... with a far better understanding of its military strengths and is more sure of its capabilities... There are few signs that Iran is ready to make any sort of deal with the United States, content to exacerbate President Trump’s political problems ahead of the US midterm elections..." https://t.co/N1YctPeeLF
"Deadly US-Israeli coalition attacks on densely populated areas of Tehran in March 2026, that killed and injured dozens of civilians, must urgently be independently and impartially investigated to determine whether they constitute war crimes." - @amnesty https://t.co/CztfzhLzWf
21-year-old rapper Erfan Mirzaei, detained during the January anti-regime uprising, was executed on September 6. Sources claim he was subjected to severe beatings and torture while in prison. Mirzaei was also denied a burial in his home city of Isfahan. https://t.co/o5BByeEKUi
"The increase in Iran's gasoline price, which is one of the lowest in the world, was discussed by the government and postponed amid concerns it could trigger new protests. Iran experienced widespread protests in 2019 over the same issue."https://t.co/h5fLCnZFMY
Maziar, a 45-year-old in Tehran: "We have given up buying red meat... As soon as I receive my salary, I rush to buy household necessities, especially food items, for fear that their prices will rise tomorrow."