About this episode
<strong><em>Editor's note:</em></strong><em> The United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran early Saturday, Feb. 28. For current coverage click </em><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/02/28/nx-s1-5730158/israel-iran-strikes-trump-us"target="_blank" ><em>here</em></a><em>. For background context, the story below was published on Jan. 22, 2026.</em><br/><br/>Iran has been here before. For decades the country has gone through cycles of protest and repression at the hands of the Islamic Republic. What makes this cycle different? <br/><br/>In this episode of <em>Throughline</em> from NPR, we speak to two Iranian experts about their view of the past, present, and future of Iran’s protest movement.<br/><br/><strong>Guests:</strong><br><strong>Ali Alfoneh</strong>, senior fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington DC<br><strong>Holly Dagres</strong>, senior fellow at the Washington Institute and curator of the Iranist on Substack.<br/><br/><em>To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at <a href="plus.npr.org/throughline"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org/throughline</a>.</em><br/><br/>See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>