The latest Iran news:
From Akhtar Makoii’s article for London’s Daily Telegraph:
Iran will pay £5 a month to 80 million citizens in an effort to quell widespread protests.
Authorities launched the “economic relief” plan on Sunday, pledging to transfer 10 million rial (£5.50) in voucher form to nearly the entire population over the course of four months.
The payment is equivalent to the average daily salary of a worker in Iran.
And from an article at The Week magazine (and other sources as well):
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reportedly has a contingency plane to flee the country if the security forces fail to suppress the growing protests, which are now on the ninth day.
Khamenei, 86, is reportedly planning to escape Tehran with his close aides and family, according to an intelligence report shared with British newspaper The Times.
The move would be triggered if Iran’s military or internal security forces become unwilling or unable to enforce orders.
The walls are closing in. The people continue to protest. And it is very much in question whether Iran’s armed forces can, will – or even want to – stop them.
Are khamenei and his murderous mullah thugs truly at the end of the line? Can paying off the people stop the protests? Are they on the cusp of running scared, maybe hiding in Russia with papa putin?
The answer is a definite maybe…which is one helluva lot closer to yes than a definitive no.
I don’t see how the current status quo can hold very long. If it can’t, we’ll find out the answer relatively soon. Maybe very soon.
Fingers crossed.
