Iran unrest: Nation faces currency crash and energy crisis
2025-12-31_12-59 • 2m 45s
? (?)
00:00.880
Good
morning.
Are
Suzanne Maloney (VP & Director of Foreign Policy)
00:02.160
you?
Hi,
can
you
hear
me?
? (?)
00:04.360
Yeah,
yes.
Now
we
can.
I
want
to
start
with
the
your
notion
that
the
protests
are
inimical
to
the
regime
itself
because
it's
economic
currency
water,
but
as
a
result
you
are
seeing
anti-regime
anti-systemic
protests.
So
it's
happening
again.
This
is
something
can
we
wish
for
? (?)
00:28.720
something
like
this
in
the
West
that
to
happen
is
is
that
is
that
bad
for
us
to
have
a
a
horse
in
this
in
this
race?
Suzanne Maloney (VP & Director of Foreign Policy)
00:36.960
No,
I
think
we
absolutely
have
a
horse
in
this
race
and
that
is
the
Iranian
people.
The
Iranian
people
have
come
to
the
streets
once
again
successively
over
the
course
of
the
past
eight
years
in
particular
to
largely
provoked
by
economic
issues,
but
really
what
they
demand
is
Suzanne Maloney (VP & Director of Foreign Policy)
00:53.400
not
just
a
fix
to
the
economy,
but
a
different
regime
entirely.
We're
hearing
cries
of
death
to
the
dictator.
We're
hearing
slogans
that
juxtapose
the
regime
support
for
militia
groups
across
the
region
with
the
real
interests
and
demands
of
the
Iranian
people.
And
I
think
the
Suzanne Maloney (VP & Director of Foreign Policy)
01:10.920
the
West
and
the
entire
world
has
a
a
a
real
stake
in
an
outcome
that
results
in
some
kind
of
change
in
Iran.
We
don't
know
that
that
will
happen
at
this
time,
but
I
think
the
the
evidence
is
that
the
Iranians
continue
to
come
demand
their
rights
and
demand
a
different
system.
? (?)
01:27.280
Who's
Who's
the
dictator
they're
talking
about?
It's
a
theocracy
democracy,
right?
But
is
it
the
the
current
religious
head,
the
imam?
Suzanne Maloney (VP & Director of Foreign Policy)
01:36.000
Well,
so
the
supreme
leader
is
both
the
head
of
the
governing
system
within
Iran,
but
he
also,
of
course,
has
a
religious
position
as
well.
His
name
is
Ayatollah
Ali
Khamenei.
He's
been
in
power
for
36
years,
and
he
is
declining
quite
precipitously
at
this
time.
And
so
there's
Suzanne Maloney (VP & Director of Foreign Policy)
01:53.760
already,
I
think,
a
contest
around
who
or
what
might
succeed
the
current
supreme
leader.
And
that
really
opens
the
question
of
how
the
system
itself
could
change
with
different
leadership.
? (?)
02:04.520
Yeah,
I
ask
that
when
Ahmad
Nadjad
was
was
he
was
he
was
still
under
he
was
reporting
to
this
gentleman
as
well,
right?
But
although
he
was
much
more
had
a
much
higher
profile
than
than
the
current
what
is
it
premier
prime
minister?
Suzanne Maloney (VP & Director of Foreign Policy)
02:21.160
Iran
has
a
has
a
really
interesting
system
and
it
involves
you
know
absolute
power
is
in
the
hands
of
the
supreme
leader
the
current
Ali
Khamenei
But
there's
also
a
semi-competitive
electoral
system
that
produces
a
parliament
and
a
president.
And
Afrin
Najad
was
the
president.
Suzanne Maloney (VP & Director of Foreign Policy)
02:38.120
The
current
president
is
someone
from
a
more
reformist
background,
but
he
has
very
little
influence,
very
little
authority.
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