On January 12, when riots and violent protests had been wreaking havoc across Iran for more than two weeks, US President Donald Trump posted a message on his social media platform, Truth Social.  “Iranian patriots,” he wrote.  “Keep protesting.  Take over your institutions.  I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials until the senseless killing of protesters stops.  Help is on its way.”

This was not his first message of encouragement to the hundreds of thousands who had taken to the streets of Iran’s cities and towns protesting against the regime and the hardships it was inflicting on the people.  In a Truth Social post in the early hours of Friday, January 2 he had already posted that if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” adding: “We are locked and loaded and ready to go.”

The nationwide insurrection can be dated back to December 28, when a sudden currency collapse, coming on top of already severe inflation and falling purchasing power, led to bazaar strikes and street demonstrations in Tehran.  

The Iranian rial had plunged to a historic low of around 1.42 million per dollar, destroying price stability for importdependent traders, and making normal bazaar commerce impossible.  Rapid exchangerate swings and rising costs meant that shopkeepers could not set or honor prices.  Facing possible bankruptcy, they closed their shops and struck in protest at what they saw as regime mismanagement of the economy.

The uprising moved quickly from economic dissatisfaction by the trading community to an open........

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