WEBVTT 00:01.933 --> 00:04.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In Iran tonight, leaders of the Islamic republic are facing the most 00:04.433 --> 00:06.933 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% serious challenge to their rule in nearly a decade. 00:06.933 --> 00:11.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Protests have erupted across the country, with at least 13 killed so far, and growing 00:11.766 --> 00:15.800 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% fears of a new crackdown. 00:15.800 --> 00:19.366 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% Iranian state TV initially ignored these protests, but no more. 00:19.366 --> 00:24.366 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% Today, it broadcast what it said was the aftermath of deadly overnight clashes between protesters 00:24.966 --> 00:26.966 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% and police. 00:26.966 --> 00:29.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% MAN (through translator): Unfortunately, in total, some 10 people died in various cities 00:29.833 --> 00:31.933 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% last night. 00:31.933 --> 00:34.466 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% During the unrest, some public places were set on fire or seriously damaged. 00:34.466 --> 00:39.433 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The report said armed protesters tried to take over police stations and military 00:40.666 --> 00:43.066 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% bases, though it didn't say where that occurred. 00:43.066 --> 00:47.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% The unrest began Thursday, in the city of Mashhad, hometown of the country's supreme 00:47.866 --> 00:50.866 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 00:50.866 --> 00:55.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Demonstrations initially over economic woes quickly spread across the country, including 00:55.400 --> 00:58.533 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% the capital, Tehran. 00:58.533 --> 01:02.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% In the process, crowds began directly challenging the very head of the regime. 01:02.933 --> 01:07.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% They yelled "Death to Khamenei," and some even shouted support for the late shah, who 01:09.100 --> 01:11.133 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% was ousted in the 1979 revolution. 01:11.133 --> 01:15.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% In Tehran, on Sunday, protesters overturned police vans and threw rocks at security forces, 01:17.400 --> 01:21.766 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% who in turn used tear gas, batons and live fire. 01:21.766 --> 01:26.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% These are the biggest protests in Iran since 2009's Green Movement, when masses accused 01:28.333 --> 01:31.666 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of rigging his reelection. 01:31.666 --> 01:36.100 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% Security forces swiftly and harshly cracked down on that uprising. 01:36.100 --> 01:39.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% This time, though, the response has been somewhat more restrained. 01:39.633 --> 01:44.533 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% President Hassan Rouhani acknowledged Sunday that many Iranians haven't seen the economic 01:44.533 --> 01:48.100 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% benefits they were promised after the signing of the Iran nuclear deal. 01:48.100 --> 01:52.133 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% HASSAN ROUHANI, Iranian President (through translator): The people have a right to criticize 01:52.133 --> 01:53.833 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% all over the country. 01:53.833 --> 01:56.833 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% But criticism is entirely different from violence. 01:56.833 --> 02:01.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% While those responsible in our country must respect the grounds for legal complaints of 02:01.033 --> 02:06.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% the people, at the same time, we must not allow the creation of an atmosphere where 02:06.033 --> 02:10.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% supporters of the revolution and our people worry about their lives and security. 02:10.866 --> 02:15.866 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Today, officials in Najafabad in Western Iran said protesters shot at police, 02:17.000 --> 02:19.433 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% killing one and injuring three more. 02:19.433 --> 02:22.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Other officials warned the demonstrators will - - quote -- "pay the price." 02:22.833 --> 02:27.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% MAN (through translator): Those who carry out acts of sabotage, riot and unrest, and 02:29.766 --> 02:31.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% set fire to public and private venues and properties should be dealt with strongly. 02:31.766 --> 02:35.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: President Trump encouraged the protesters on Twitter this weekend, and 02:35.833 --> 02:38.933 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% declared it's time for change in Iran. 02:38.933 --> 02:43.733 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% Meanwhile, hundreds of people have been arrested, and the government blocked Instagram and the 02:43.733 --> 02:48.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% messaging app Telegram to try and limit the organization of more protests. 02:50.666 --> 02:52.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% For more on the latest in Iran, I spoke a short while ago with Thomas Erdbrink of The 02:52.400 --> 02:53.400 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% New York Times. 02:53.400 --> 02:54.933 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% He's in Tehran. 02:54.933 --> 02:57.066 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And I began by asking him to describe the scene today. 02:57.066 --> 03:00.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% THOMAS ERDBRINK, The New York Times: So, I was out on the streets of Tehran today, like 03:00.000 --> 03:05.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% many, many other people who were walking the pavements, maybe with the intention to protest 03:05.733 --> 03:07.833 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% or to shout slogans. 03:07.833 --> 03:12.133 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But they definitely weren't able to, because the lines -- the central squares of Tehran 03:13.966 --> 03:17.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% were lined with police officers in riot gear, plainclothes officers on motorcycles. 03:19.200 --> 03:22.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Clearly, the decision had been made today to not allow these protests, at least in the 03:23.900 --> 03:26.233 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% capital, from growing any further. 03:26.233 --> 03:31.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But, despite that, I saw a group of 50 protesters that came out on the streets, shouted slogans 03:33.366 --> 03:38.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% against Iran's supreme leader, shouted slogans against Iran's intervention in Syria and Iraq, 03:42.000 --> 03:47.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% who burned down some trash bins on the streets, and then were, of course, chased by the police 03:47.600 --> 03:49.633 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% and ran off. 03:49.633 --> 03:51.966 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And do you have a sense of what it is that these protesters actually 03:51.966 --> 03:54.000 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% want? 03:54.000 --> 03:57.966 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% THOMAS ERDBRINK: Well, these protests are based on the broad feeling of discontent among 03:58.866 --> 04:00.366 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% average, ordinary Iranians. 04:00.366 --> 04:03.900 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And the root of this discontent is inside Iran's economy. 04:03.900 --> 04:08.900 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Now, of course, Iran's economy has been under sanctions during the past 10 years and continues 04:10.833 --> 04:14.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% to be under unilateral American sanctions, even after the 2015 nuclear agreement between 04:15.166 --> 04:16.866 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Iran and world powers. 04:16.866 --> 04:20.633 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% It is still impossible to send and receive money to this country. 04:20.633 --> 04:25.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But at the same time, Iran's economy has also been mismanaged by Iran's leaders, not for 04:26.800 --> 04:28.900 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% the past 10 years, but for decades already. 04:28.900 --> 04:33.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Well, as a result, there are many young people here who are without a job, who cannot make 04:35.333 --> 04:38.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% ends meet and who for years already have been complaining about the economy. 04:40.166 --> 04:42.666 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And, Thomas, who are these protesters? 04:42.666 --> 04:45.033 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Who is it that is actually out on the streets today? 04:45.033 --> 04:48.333 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% THOMAS ERDBRINK: Well, there are two groups of protesters. 04:48.333 --> 04:53.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% There is a big group of people who are dissatisfied with the economical situation. 04:53.200 --> 04:58.100 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% And also because, in Iran, everything is political, as this is an ideological country, they are 04:58.100 --> 05:02.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% ultimately also dissatisfied with the political choices their leaders have made. 05:02.766 --> 05:07.766 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Now, those people can be taxi drivers, lawyers, housewives. 05:09.733 --> 05:13.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% They are the ones who might intend to go on the street, but are not going so at this point 05:14.900 --> 05:17.033 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% in time, because they are afraid to lose whatever they have. 05:17.033 --> 05:19.066 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Maybe they will get in trouble with the law. 05:19.066 --> 05:23.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But then there is a smaller group of young people who are maybe poor, who feel as if 05:25.666 --> 05:29.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% they have nothing to lose, who seems to be very determined to go out on the street, to 05:29.566 --> 05:34.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% shout these slogans, and to, even at points, throw stones at the police, vandalize, burn 05:36.433 --> 05:40.100 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% down dustbins and other things, in order to make their point. 05:40.100 --> 05:43.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Thomas Erdbrink of The New York Times, thank you very much. 05:43.500 --> 05:44.500 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% THOMAS ERDBRINK: OK. 05:44.500 --> 05:46.500 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Thank you for having me. 05:46.500 --> 05:49.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: We will focus more on what's driving the unrest in Iran after the news 05:49.533 --> 05:49.833 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% summary.