At the beginning of the current period of opposition, which started after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's controversial reelection, the demonstrations were less frequent, and had periods of quiet between them.
Judging by the events of the day of Ashura, they now have the full potential to turn into a full civil disobedience campaign similar to the first intifada which the Palestinians initiated against Israel in 1987 -- meaning continuous periods of civil disobedience and strikes, and confrontations between members of the public against security forces.
The main contributing factor to the creation of this new phenomenon is the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's recent policy, which seem to be pitting his version of the Islamic Republic of Iran against long standing Islamic institutions.
This is a battle which he will find extremely cumbersome to win. In fact, if developments continue in their current format, at minimum they could result in significant change in the structure of his regime. At maximum, they could lead to his regime's total demise.
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