Channel 4 News published this video item, entitled “Will the Iran protests lead to regime change? – expert explains” – below is their description.
Last year, Iran was rocked by some of the biggest protests the country has seen since the foundation of the Islamic Republic – as people were calling not just for women’s rights, but ultimately for regime change.
Yet how realistic is that in a nation where the crackdown against the protests has been brutal and where the leaders are unwilling to alter the theological and ideological basis of their power?
In this week’s episode of the Fourcast, we speak to the head of middle eastern studies at the Royal United Services Institute, Dr Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi. She discusses whether the regime is weak right now and how worrying it is that as Iran becomes more ostracised from the west, it draws closer to Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
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About This Source - Channel 4 News
Channel 4 News is the news programme from UK Channel 4 television. Channel 4 is a British public-service free-to-air television network headquartered in Leeds, United Kingdom. The channel was established in 1982 to provide a fourth television service to the United Kingdom in addition to the licence-funded BBC One and BBC Two, and the single commercial broadcasting network ITV.
Iran, also called Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a country in Western Asia. Its central location in Eurasia and proximity to the Strait of Hormuz give it significant geostrategic importance. Tehran is the capital and largest city.
Iran is home to one of the world’s oldest civilizations, beginning with the formation of the Elamite kingdoms in the fourth millennium BC. The Iranian Revolution established the current Islamic Republic in 1979.
Iran’s political system combines elements of a presidential democracy and an Islamic theocracy. Iran is a founding member of the UN, ECO, OIC, and OPEC. It is a major regional and middle power and has large reserves of fossil fuels — including the world’s largest natural gas supply and the third largest proven oil reserves.
The country’s rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 22 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Historically a multi-ethnic country, Iran remains a pluralistic society comprising numerous ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups, the largest being Persians, Azeris, Kurds, Mazandaranis and Lurs.
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the south.
Russia spans more than one-eighth of the Earth’s inhabited land area, stretching eleven time zones, and bordering 16 sovereign nations. Moscow is the country’s capital.
The Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991 and since 1993 Russia been governed as a federal semi-presidential republic. Russia is a major great power, with the world’s second-most powerful military, and the fourth-highest military expenditure. As a recognised nuclear-weapon state, the country possesses the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons.
