{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"In recent years the Islamic Republic has been shaken by nationwide protests demanding freedom and democracy. These uprisings, often viewed as isolated episodes, are in fact part of a broader, ongoing national struggle for liberation. They are intensifying expressions of a long-standing movement for systemic change.\n\nFollowing large protests in the regime's nascency, the Islamic Republic consolidated power and spent its early years crushing counter-revolutionary efforts, holding American hostages, and extending a nearly decade-long war with Saddam Hussein. The conflict galvanized national unity, stifling anti-regime sentiment. In the early and mid-1990's, in an attempt to quell burgeoning dissent, the Islamic Republic launched its so-called \"reformist\" project with leaders including Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami. These top-down reforms fell far short of the Iranian people’s demands, triggering a wave of protests at the turn of the millennium.\n\nDespite the movement's failures, many Iranians maintained their belief in it. In the late 1990s, Iranian university students initiated a new wave of protests focused on pushing the regime towards further reforms. Yet when the regime crushed those protests and reformists leaders faltered, public enthusiasm waned, and the protest movement entered a decade-long lull. This lull came to an end with the rise of the Green Movement in 2009, following the fraudulent presidential election earlier that year. The movement, embodied by the tragic death of Neda Agha-Soltan, captured global attention. Yet, when its leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, turned his back on the protesters and failed to challenge Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the movement lost momentum, effectively marking the end of the reform era. As a result, the political landscape shifted beneath the regime’s feet. The protests became more revolutionary in their demands and the gaps between each protest began to shrink.\n\nThe next wave erupted in 2016 at the Tomb of Cyrus the Great, signaling the start of what is now commonly called the National Revolution. This new era of protests represents a clear departure from reformist rhetoric, embracing calls for the complete dismantling of the regime. Since then, protests have continued to grow in number and in frequency, again gaining global attention in the aftermath of the murder of Mahsa Amini two years ago.\n\nNUFDI’s interactive Iran Protest Timeline reveals a stark truth: what may seem like sporadic uprisings are in fact the rising momentum of a national revolution, driven by a relentless desire for freedom and the end of the Islamic Republic’s rule.\n\n"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"data-original":"