Protests in Iran

[King Lear]

Whenever there is any kind of mass protest in Iran (especially the "Green" movement protests from 2009-2011), I wonder if the end is near for the current regime in power. The Iranian people never asked for a theocratic regime after the overthrow of the Shah...it just so happened that the followers of Khomenei were the most visible and organized compared to the pro-democracy advocates and communists. I am of the opinion that the people will eventually rise up and overthrow their current government, it's only a matter of time. But, it is hard to say when protests like these end up creating a domino effect that takes down the entire government (like 1979).

Hopefully sooner rather than later. If a liberal, pro-democracy regime takes over, then we can start talking about restoring good relations with Iran.

It's amazing to think that Iran and Israel had fairly good relations until 1979 considering how poor relations are right now. If I am not mistaken, Iran was the second Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel (after Turkey). I took a Persian history class in college and I remember a discussion on how Israel and Iran were actually natural allies at one point because of their mutual distrust of Arabs...

Well, Iran was certainly not a pro-democracy regime before 1979. They had even fewer freedoms then.

I agree 100%. The Shah of Iran was one of the most infamous and brutal dictators of the 20th Century. Some of the more notable crimes committed by the Shah include his killing of 160,000 innocent Iranians between 1963 and 1978, ordering agencies such as SAVAK to bayonet any woman caught wearing the Hijab or other religious attire, suppressing freedom of speech, torturing thousands of political prisoners using the most heinous methods imaginable, and forming alliances with enemy nations such as the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UK. As such, the Shahs overthrow was logical, justified, and came 100% from the Iranian people without any outside intervention.

There are no countries that are objectively enemies of another country. If you form an alliance with a country its no longer your enemy. It may in some cases be an untrustworthy ally, but its not an enemy.

The US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UK have always been against the interests of Iran and have sought to subjugate the Iranian people for decades, so I consider them to be the true enemies of Iran.

Utter nonsense. The true enemy of any country are people within their borders who don't respect them. The Shah was preferable to this Islamic cesspool, but was hardly angelic himself.

Iran has proven that it can be secular and democratic via its people and it needs to be returned to the international community. One of the world's oldest and well-respected communities does not need people like you shilling for the Islamic regime.

Whenever there is any kind of mass protest in Iran (especially the "Green" movement protests from 2009-2011), I wonder if the end is near for the current regime in power. The Iranian people never asked for a theocratic regime after the overthrow of the Shah...it just so happened that the followers of Khomenei were the most visible and organized compared to the pro-democracy advocates and communists. I am of the opinion that the people will eventually rise up and overthrow their current government, it's only a matter of time. But, it is hard to say when protests like these end up creating a domino effect that takes down the entire government (like 1979).

Hopefully sooner rather than later. If a liberal, pro-democracy regime takes over, then we can start talking about restoring good relations with Iran.

It's amazing to think that Iran and Israel had fairly good relations until 1979 considering how poor relations are right now. If I am not mistaken, Iran was the second Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel (after Turkey). I took a Persian history class in college and I remember a discussion on how Israel and Iran were actually natural allies at one point because of their mutual distrust of Arabs...

Well, Iran was certainly not a pro-democracy regime before 1979. They had even fewer freedoms then.

I agree 100%. The Shah of Iran was one of the most infamous and brutal dictators of the 20th Century. Some of the more notable crimes committed by the Shah include his killing of 160,000 innocent Iranians between 1963 and 1978, ordering agencies such as SAVAK to bayonet any woman caught wearing the Hijab or other religious attire, suppressing freedom of speech, torturing thousands of political prisoners using the most heinous methods imaginable, and forming alliances with enemy nations such as the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UK. As such, the Shahs overthrow was logical, justified, and came 100% from the Iranian people without any outside intervention.

There are no countries that are objectively enemies of another country. If you form an alliance with a country its no longer your enemy. It may in some cases be an untrustworthy ally, but its not an enemy.

The US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UK have always been against the interests of Iran and have sought to subjugate the Iranian people for decades, so I consider them to be the true enemies of Iran.

Finally someone is telling the truth, Yes Iran has its problems, but compared to most other Muslim countries it’s relatively Free and Democratic (women can vote their for example), and America and Israel have no right to undermine and destroy their country by supporting violent protests and making up a fake Nuclear threat in order to have an excuse to bomb them. Finally, it’s mighty hypocritical for America to condemn countries for cracking down on protesters, because if the Republican government in the United States ever faced the types of mass demonstrations Iran’s government has faced, I could assure you they would have Tanks and Soldiers gunning people down in the street without a second thought.

[King Lear]

I think people are reading too far into this. They are protests. Protests happen all the time everywhere. The Iranian government is probably safe for now. This is something I would keep an eye on though because it could escalate. Hopefully not, because anyone who thinks the Iranian government will fall and then there will be a modern, democratic, peaceful Iran is mistaken. The Iranian government remains with a lot of public support. Rouhani was just re-elected by a very strong landslide. There is also Syria, Hezbollah, the Iraqi PMU who have benefited from years of Iranian support and may want to return the favour.

Rouhani is a moderate reformist. His opponents he beat in a landslide were the hardliners.

I think thumb's point is that the election had a decent turnout giving the regime a bit of 'legitimacy'.

Kinda.

My point is that a president who just won an election with 57% of the vote with 73% turnout is not a president who is about to be rebelled against, even if some of that support was for a lesser of evils.

Their election had more legitimacy then ours, because while ours had 60% turnout theirs had 73% turnout and while our leader won 46% of the vote (Trump lost the popular vote and only won because of the undemocratic electoral college) their leader won 57% of the vote so who’s really spose to lecture who about Democratic elections?

[King Lear]

I hope the Iranian Government crushes these Trump-supported, CIA orchestrated, Protests. America, Israel, and Saudi Arabia have no right to overthrow Iran's Government and I totally stand with Iran's Government against Zionist, Neoconservative, and Wahabbi aggression.