The popular revolt against Iran’s Mullahcracy now extends across that country, with protests going on in hundreds of cities and towns. The regime has shut off the internet and has warned that protesters will be shot in the street. This long Telegraph story is some hours old, but a good place to start. (It is behind a paywall, but that is a gift link that should work.)
Iran’s supreme leader placed the country’s security services on their highest state of alert as protests threatened to topple the regime.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered his Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to take control of the crackdown amid fears of defections by the regular armed forces and police.
Reports suggested security services were hunting down police who had refused to fire on demonstrators.
Unpopular dictatorships fall when their soldiers are no longer willing to fire on their countrymen. Whether the IRGC can fill the gap remains to be seen.
This is highly interesting:
One official told The Telegraph: “The establishment has never felt as threatened by protests as it does now. But this is not only about the demonstrations themselves. The real concern is Donald Trump’s threats. We have seen what he did in Venezuela. Those film-style scenarios do not apply here.
“What has happened instead is that Venezuela has emboldened protesters. For the first time, they genuinely believe major change is possible.”
It makes you wonder what would have happened, years ago, if Barack Obama had sided with demonstrators instead of the Iranian regime. Today, President Trump continued to threaten the mullahs:
How the U.S. might help is unclear; Trump has ruled out using troops on the ground. Trump may have something up his sleeve, or it may be that moral support is more important than anything else. Believing that our government is on their side may be what regime opponents need, as much as anything.
Communications in Iran are being impeded by the regime, but Elon Musk has activated Starlink there to aid protesters. There are countless videos of demonstrations in progress, including videos of a mosque that is burning in Tehran. This is one random example:
Reports persist that Ayatollah Khamenei is preparing to flee the country. Other sources insist that he will never leave. Whatever his fate may be, I think the regime is finally going to fall, probably within the next week or two. Maybe sooner.
