I read a book a while back written by two brave women who had been thrown into Evin prison for their Christian faith…
Their treatment appears to have been similar to many of the protestors in this recent wave of crackdowns.
There is a lot going on, all together - many younger Iranians will not remember life before the revolution and will associate freedom with vice and debauchery, especially if they are devout Muslims. Also, western regimes may indeed seek to encourage resistance to Iranian clerical rule as the “death to America / death to Israel” Friday sentiment coupled with nuclear capacities is surely a little risky on the world stage.
Taking a fictional example, if there were a movement of young North Korean men who didn’t want to have the regulation clothing or haircut and had begun to defy the authorities, the malevolence of the leadership and the danger it represents could easily bring the covert support of international actors to try to take down Kim Jong Un.