The people of Iran are rising up against the country's Islamist dictatorship, but can they succeed in removing the mullahs from power? After all, Iranians have undertaken mass protests against the Islamist regime before, without success. This time, however, may be different, because this time, the uprising wasn't triggered by lack of political freedom, but by socio-economic conditions in Iran.
Put simply, many Iranians don't have food to eat or water to drink, and history shows that when people lack sustenance, they tend to lose their fear of being arrested, imprisoned, injured, or killed opposing the regime responsible for their appalling living conditions. As Bob Dylan's song, "Like a Rolling Stone" goes, "When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose."
Thus, it will be harder than ever before for Iran's Islamist dictators to violently crack down on their people, though that's not going to stop them from trying. Indeed, reports suggest that Iran's dictators are using live fire to suppress the demonstrations and innocent people are being murdered at the hands of the Islamist regime for their protest actions.
It is still very possible that Iran's Islamist dictatorship will successfully quell this latest uprising, especially if the rebellion is not supported by the outside world. So far, support from the international community has been extremely limited. Aside from a handful of hollow condemnations, world leaders have largely remained silent on the Iranian uprising – the same world leaders who readily condemned Israel for its fight against Hamas following the terrorist group's orchestration of the October 7th massacre – the worst mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. The media, too, have largely remained silent, providing little to no coverage of the Iranian uprising, which is why most news about the revolt is coming from social media.
No one from the "Free Palestine" community seems to be offering support to the beleaguered Iranians fighting for their freedom, either. No mass demonstrations, no calls for sanctions, no calls for boycotts. In fact, the only people coming out to support the courageous Iranians struggling for liberty seem to be Iranian expatriates, though notably, some members of the Jewish community and other supporters of Israel have joined Iranian expatriates demonstrating in support of Iranian protesters, and they should be commended for their efforts.
If this latest Iranian uprising is to succeed, however, the people of Iran will need a lot more support. For starters, the media should be covering the Iranian uprising with the same rigor that they covered Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. Honestly, though, I'm not holding my breath for this to happen, because the media can't blame Israel for the Iranians' suffering. No Jews, no news.
The Iranian uprising will certainly not succeed without pushback against the mullahs from the international community. Right now, no country, except the US, has threatened real consequences for Iran's Islamist rulers if they continue their violent crackdown on demonstrators. A sharp contrast from when many countries cut diplomatic and trade ties with Israel for defending itself against Hamas. Bucking the trend is US President Donald Trump, who promised to take action if Iran's Islamist rulers killed any of the protesters. Well, according to reports, hundreds of Iranians have already been killed demonstrating against their brutal Islamist rulers, and hospitals are overflowing with dead and wounded. So, will the President keep his promise and act? Will anyone act? This could be the best chance to put an end to the world's leading sponsor of terrorism and free Iran's 90 million people from oppression and hopelessness. The free world can't pass it up.
