The Los Angeles Times:

The Islamic Republic is nervous and men with guns are back on motorcycles.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced he will lead Friday prayers in Tehran — something he does only in times of crisis. Iran’s political elites, meanwhile, are bracing for a new round of United Nations sanctions over the unraveling 2015 nuclear deal. And the feared plainclothes Basij paramilitary soldiers on motorcycles are roaring through crowds at university protests as the nation braces for fresh upheaval.

The Islamic Republic has for decades weathered threats from within and without. It is no stranger to protests. Ever since the disputed 2009 presidential election that sparked months-long political demonstrations, known as the Green Movement, Khamenei has dispatched the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and paramilitaries to crush defiance with tear gas and bullets.

The latest round of unrest was triggered last week after Iranian officials admitted that the Revolutionary Guard had mistakenly fired missiles that downed a Ukraine International Airlines jet, killing all 176 people aboard. The protests follow a massive revolt in November that left hundreds of people dead. The question now is whether a reignited fervor for the theocracy to be overthrown marks a danger zone for Khamenei or becomes the latest frustration by protesters seeking to upend a government run by ayatollahs since the 1979 revolution.

Go to link