What does an autocrat do when his support base is shaken by popular protests?
The standard answer is: he tries to reassure supporters by increasing their privileges, thus giving them a bigger stake in the preservation of the status quo.
This is what Islamic Republic’s “Supreme Guide” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is trying to do with an edict for the largest privatization scheme in Iran’s history.
Unveiled last week, the scheme is the seventh of its kind since the first was launched 23 years ago.
