A new form of resistance to Trump’s ICE has sprung up on the streets of Minneapolis, while on the streets of Tehran – after many thousands of deaths – people are hoping that Trump will help them bring down the regime established by the 1979 Revolution. The Ayatollahs have made Iranians the most pro-American people in the region, and perhaps there is even a local version of Bruce Springsteen, but repeated internet and communications blackouts have kept him from our social media feeds.

But what is really happening on the streets of Tehran? The demonstrations – which began as economic protests in the Bazaar and then turned political, spreading from the big cities to the provinces – have been crushed by horrifying repression. As of the weekend, there were fewer people in the streets: Iranians have changed their habits, returning home as soon as possible so as not to be caught up in the events and arrests, which continue unabated. In the air, alongside mourning and sadness for the dead, there is hope – but also the fear of an American attack by Trump’s “armada” in the Gulf, which is certainly not there on a sightseeing trip.

But there isn’t just one Iran: the regime, although weakened, is not in the collapse phase; the opposition has no real leaders or common platform and is infiltrated, as the Financial Times writes, by movements such as MEK (Mujahedin-e Khalq), linked to the US and Israel. There are those who distrust Trump and also the son of the Shah, Reza Pahlavi, whom some tout as a possible leader and who gave Iranians empty promises of help when they were pushed once again to take to the........

© Il Manifesto Global