The new protests that broke out in Tehran require the regime to increase its focus on countering the growing domestic challenge - thus bolstering Tehran's view of no escalation against the US.

• Ali Khamenei // Photo: IP

• Protest in Iran // Photo: IPA

• Protest in Iran // Photo: AFP

• Protest in Iran // Photo: IPA

• Protest in Iran // Photo: AFP

Following the collapse of the Ukrainian plane, protesters in Iran return to the streets and renew the protest. Protesters express their disgust at Khamenei and Sulimani, and their disdain for halakhic rule.

The current protest seems to reflect another link in the process of eroding the legitimacy of the Iranian regime. The public is angry at the Revolutionary Guards who for three days hid their direct responsibility for dropping the plane.

The incident itself was sparked by the US Revolutionary Guards' fear of the Iranian missile attack against US bases in Iraq. Remember, at a press conference he convened after the Iranian missile attack against Iraq, Iraqi commander of the Hajizada Revolutionary Guards Iran said the US Respond in a counter-attack to the Iranian attack in Iraq.

Protest demonstration in Iran after the crash of the Ukrainian plane // Photo: IPA

The current protest will require the regime to focus more on countering the growing domestic challenge, and it reinforces the belief that Tehran will not resort to escalation with the United States, but would prefer to send its various proxies in the region to try and exhaust the Americans. This is in line with Khamenei's definition in his speech after the Suleimani elimination - the removal of the Americans from the region.

The Khamenei regime is suffering from a legitimate crisis, and Kaminai's prime task now lies in blurring it and painting the regime as popular, although it relies heavily on arm strength (rods, axes and live shoots, as we saw in the previous round of protests) to survive.

Now, one must see, among other things, whether the middle class joins protests, what their scope is, and to the extent that the regime is forced to close the internet again - whether the US will provide network access for protesters, a tool that is needed for them as air to breathe to significantly increase protests.

The writer serves as a researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS) and a researcher at the Azrieli Center for the Study of Iran and the Persian Gulf at the University of Haifa