Iran's most fervent regional foes, Saudi Arabia and Israel, are both eagerly looking for signs of vulnerability and imminent change in their nemesis amid the past week of protests across the country. But they've taken vastly different approaches of how to engage with the upheaval.
Saudi officials have not officially made any statements yet about the wave of unrest, perhaps wary of being seen to meddle. Israel, in contrast, has taken a much bolder approach, diving in with an attempt to speak directly to Iranian protesters.
In a video released online Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised what he called the bravery of the Iranian protesters seeking freedom and lambasted Iran's "cruel regime" for spending billions of dollars "spreading hate."
"This regime tries desperately to sow hate between us," he said. "But they won't succeed."
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused Iran's enemies of stoking the protests that erupted a week ago over a rise in food prices and have spread to dozens of smaller cities and towns around Iran. Those he was apparently referring to —Israel, the United States and Saudi Arabia — have long been opposed to Iran's theocratic, cleric-led rule and are eager to see, even stoke, dramatic change. But the protests appear to have caught Iranians at home, nations in the region, the U.S. and European countries off guard.
President Donald Trump has proclaimed his support for those in the streets, saying it is "time for change," while the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, said Washington wants to amplify the voices of the protesters.
But it's not clear what influence foreign statements of support have in swaying anyone on the ground in Iran. READ MORE
