It would be like me telling someone from China, or Somalia, or whatever country you pick, that I know more about the place than they do. That would be the height of ignorance and entitlement, because I have no knowledge or understanding of the culture, society, or experiences of those countries
I don’t think you do. I think what this is, is another Westerner with existing bias (e.g, Israel & US bad, so Iran must be good), who believes he knows more than people with lived experience and first hand knowledge.
Like why would you assume you know that much about Iran or its people?
Says the Westerner, with no stake in this, no family ties to Iran, no friends in Iran.
Sure, tell us that you know more about the country and the people.
Have you ever considered that it might be a country you know next to nothing about?
Don’t worry, there’s always a Westerner ready to tell people who are Iranian or have Iranian family that they know better.
These people ultimately don’t think of Iranians as real people with agency, as it challenges their rigid worldview, which is never based on first-hand, lived experience
Just now:
Iranians in Iran start chanting "death to Mojtaba" from their balconies after the announcement that he is the new supreme leader of the IRGC regime.
Such chants are a death sentence. That is how much Iranians under bombardment want this terrorist regime gone and brought to swift justice.
*190,000 IRGC, and many of them are conscripts or come from the same neighbourhoods that have been brutalised by the regime. For many, including in the Basij, it’s a paycheque.
The vast economic riches the IRGC enjoys too never filters down to the rank and file
👏👏👏
I’m still not seeing any understanding or knowledge from you as to what Iran is, how it works, who it’s people are, how it feels etc etc
It’s just more Western “I know what’s best for a people I don’t understand”
Let me know when you can put whatever that means into a coherent sentence
No disagreement. Like I said, I know Trump doesn’t care about Iranian people or even democracy for that matter, but if the prison door is being kicked down, even if it’s for other reasons, it’s to be welcomed.
The risk is he gets bored and betrays the people. I get your view as an American though
Partially, but also benefits from Iran as a partner with cordial relations, just as it was before
“UN urges talks”
Unless those talks revolve around the regime in #Iran fucking off, there’s nothing to talk about.
Unsurprisingly Trump is already getting bored though
But yes, I agree with you that Trump isn’t an “ally” but if he’s providing the environment for change to potentially happen, even if his motives are crooked, and his sincerity totally absent, it is the first chance we’ve had in 47 years of horror and bloodshed
And the Israelis want this regime gone. Half measures won’t do for them, and if a window is created for people to turn out into the streets, things could move quickly.
Unlike Libya, Afghan, Iraq etc there is a strong civil society and sense of national identity that can make a big difference
If Trump “installs” Reza Pahlavi, many will likely be fine with it if he sticks to his transitional goals that have clearly been set, but that has been his plan since before Trump was even a thing.
The idea a post-regime fragmented core of IRGC would do anything then is also far-fetched imo
Historical mistakes aren’t a reason to not destroy the current regime. Even if Trump doesn’t care about Iranians, the prison door is at least finally being kicked open.
What comes next? No one knows. Can the current situation last? No, people can’t breathe under the regime
But you’re still missing the point here. Iranians are suffering under a regime that most people want rid of, but it can’t be done without support.
So it’s either stay under the boot of one of the most violent regimes in history, or overthrow it and try to make a better country
This is a key thing a lot of Western analysts forget when they talk about the IRGC; it’s ideological, but outside of the senior leadership and officer class, many are just there for a paycheque. How many of them will want to die for old clerics and diehard commanders when the writings on the wall?
I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of watching it 😂
The Shah wasn’t perfect. Savak were feared for a reason, but the US didn’t lead regime change in 79 - there was a huge coalition across society against the Shah.
And it’s no reason to shy away from breaking apart the murderous regime we have now. It simply cannot be allowed to continue
But he is the only one doing it. Every time there’s a massacre, all we get are weak, watery words from world leaders and the regime just laughs as it continues the killing.
I know Trump doesn’t care about Iranian people, but the regime *must* be broken before the people can move against it
There was a video I saw from London where this Iranian guy was asked about why he was celebrating Trump hitting the regime and he said:
“When you have a cancer that needs to be removed, do you care where the surgeon is from?”
It seems so. The Tharallah HQ was levelled, over 50 senior IRGC have been killed and Basij bases have been hit - these are instrumental in the killing of protesters and means their ability to coordinate is degraded
There are now some reports suggesting some soldiers are no longer reporting for duty
Here’s something you might find interesting… even Khomenei’s own grandson once called for a US-led overthrow of the Islamic Republic:
"My grandfather's revolution has devoured its children…If you were a prisoner, what would you do? I want someone to break the prison doors open” - Hossein Khomenei
This is more Trump posturing imo.
But back to the idea of Iranians deciding their own future - the question is how? How do the people decide their own future when every time they try, the IRGC massacres them (not to mention the imprisonment and torture).
It cannot be done alone unfortunately
I’m not sure where you’re getting any of that from. The targets have been clerics, IRGC, Basij, some Artesh, and intel centres.
What administrative officials are you referring to? The Assembly of Experts? People like Larijani? They’re key regime administration, not civic in the traditional sense.
To go from not being able to point #Iran out on a map, to suddenly feeling confident enough to post with certainty what will happen if the regime falls is wild.
The casual dismissal of what Iranians themselves want and are capable of is gross, and sadly comes largely from self-styled progressives
This is Elica Le Bon 💞
Please listen carefully.
They’d first have to think of Iranians as real people before listening to what they want, but they just view Iranians as convenient tools to use to virtue signal from the comfort of their homes.
The luxury of distance and arrogance if thinking they know more than people on the ground over there
You say this without knowing anything about Iran though, or how it’s society works, what people think there, and are making great assumptions about what the rank and file IRGC will do, or what the Artesh will do if it comes down to it.
Westerners speak with so much certainty without knowing much
