Oil, water, and the veil: A history of the recent Iranian waves of protests

Over the past three years, several protests have erupted across Iran. Starting with the nationwide protests against rising fuel prices in 2019, several upheavals have broken outf against different issues, from socio-economic grievances to the recent massive protests following the death of Mahsa Amini. After outlining the relevance of protests at different moments in Iranian history and their ambivalent relationship with the 'ulama, this paper will examine some of the major upheavals of the past three years, focusing on three case studies: the 2019-2020 protests against rising fuel prices, the 2021 water protests, and the 2022 protests against mandatory hijab. Given that the literature on these events is still in its infancy due to their temporal proximity, this chapter will attempt to fill this gap by analyzing these movements through the lens of Iranian history. After outlining the origins and characteristics of each wave, the chapter will compare the three waves and identify the ultimate causes that led to the upheavals, their social milieu, and their local or national dimension. However, it will also note the commonalities in their development and the government's response, and conclude that these three waves present some continuities with previous moments, but also some crucial discontinuities that mark an evolution in Iranian contentious politics with respect to the past decades.