Iran – there is no turning back

The protests against the mullahs are growing by the day - the fall of the regime is imminent. Foto: private

(KL) – The reports from Iran are difficult to bear, as the regime’s attempts to quell the nationwide uprisings are incredibly brutal. Hundreds of demonstrators have been killed, thousands have been arrested, and street battles are a common sight in Iran’s cities. The mullahs’ state terrorism has reached its end; the mullahs are fighting their last battle against their own people, whom they have oppressed, murdered, and harassed for many years. But even the brutality of the Revolutionary Guards and other military units of the mullahs will not be able to change the imminent fall of the theocracy.

The demonstrators all share a single demand: “Death to the dictator!” and this can be heard today in all cities across Iran. With documented attacks on hospitals where injured demonstrators were being treated, outright massacres of demonstrators, and countless arrests, the mullahs will no longer be able to appease the exploding popular anger.

The internet has been blocked by the mullahs, but despite the difficulties this poses for organizing resistance, the protests continue two weeks after they began and are growing steadily. Due to the severely restricted flow of information caused by the Internet blockade, it is impossible to determine the exact number of victims, although there are now also numerous casualties among the security forces who have also been killed in battles with demonstrators.

The days of the mullah regime are numbered, the fall of Ali Khameini is only a matter of time, and we must continue to hope that the US will not intervene and thus give the mullahs another boost throughout the region. But we must ask the question of what will happen after the fall of the mullahs. There are two options: the claim to power by the Shah’s son Reza Pahlavi and the 10-point plan of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which envisages a peaceful transition to a modern democracy.

However, it has not been possible to organize an opposition in Iran in recent years because the state surveillance apparatus, which also operated abroad, prevented any form of organized opposition. The mood at the demonstrations is divided. On the one hand, some demonstrators chant the name Pahlavi, while on the other hand, you also hear “Neither the mullahs, nor the Shah!” and what that means in concrete terms once the mullahs have been overthrown, is still unclear. Neither Pahlavi’s supporters nor the supporters of the NCRI have a functioning structure in Iran, and no one can say today where Iran will go from here.

For the mullahs, the only option left will probably be exile in Russia, because otherwise they will have to answer for crimes against humanity before an international court. But the fate of those who have thousands of lives in Iran on their conscience is secondary at the moment – the main thing now is to ensure that the protests against this murderous regime do not end in a huge bloodbath. The situation must be monitored day by day, and the Iranian people must be supported in their struggle for freedom by all means necessary.