Trevor Noah explains the Iran protests in a way Americans might understand

Trevor Noah explains the Iran protests
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Daily Show)

Tens of thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets since Thursday to protest economic conditions and corruption, and the problem isn't Iran's "enemies," as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would have you believe, Trevor Noah said on Tuesday's Daily Show.

"These are the largest anti-government protests in Iran since 2009, and in case you're wondering what drove these people into the streets, it wasn't that George Soros was paying them," Noah said. "It was that after the U.S. lifted sanctions on Iran in 2015, the Iranian government promised a big economic boom for everyone, but while the rich in Iran are getting richer, ordinary Iranians aren't noticing the benefits. And I know this third-world stuff is hard for some Americans to relate to, but just imagine if the U.S. government promised tax cuts for the middle class but then only the rich benefited — I know, I know, that s--t would never happen."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.