The Islamic Republic of Iran is crumbling. Miscalculations have pushed it to this terminal frenzy |
The decline of the Islamic Republic of Iran is now terminal. The periodic waves of mass popular unrest the country has experienced since the 1979 revolution, increasing in frequency and severity, will probably be seen by history as a steady chipping away at the foundations of the regime’s political, economic and ideological legitimacy. Now, all that is left is a crumbling edifice bolstered by violence and brutality alone.
The news trickling out of Iran throughout five days of almost total internet and communications blackout has been shocking in the extreme. Under the cover of darkness, the clips and images which have made it out show horrifying scenes of bodies piling up in morgues, on pavements and in the backs of trucks. Fatality numbers are impossible to verify, but the dead are expected to number in the many thousands.
The fracturing of the Islamic Republic is rooted in the mistakes of Ayatollah Khamenei. Credit: Dionne Gain
Many killed have been young people, even children. More still have been arrested, and a wave of executions is expected. The regime had already scheduled the hanging of one protester, 26-year-old Erfan Soltani, for Wednesday. He was arrested just six days earlier, on January 8.
The current protest movement feels different to that which immediately preceded it. The Woman, Life, Freedom uprising of 2022-2023 was triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Jina Amini, and women removed their hijabs en masse across the country while calling for gender equality and, ultimately, the downfall of the........