Iran – Wind of Change

This is unheard of – the merchants in Tehran's Grand Bazaar have closed to protest against the regime. Foto: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA 4.0int

(KL) – Iran is in turmoil, and not just in the capital Tehran. For the 100th time, “Tuesdays against executions” took place across the country, with citizens and students demonstrating and merchants in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar closing their shops to protest against the mismanagement and brutality of the mullah regime. Add to that the incredible supply shortages in the country and renewed threats from the US, and the days of the aging mullahs could be numbered.

At demonstrations in cities such as Tehran, Mashhad, Kermanshah, Hamedan, Karaj, Malard, and Qeshm, to name but a few, protesters are chanting “Death to Khameini!” and “This is the year of blood, Seyyed Ali (Khameini) will be overthrown!” which, given the danger the demonstrators are exposing themselves to, is an act of courage or desperation. The demonstrations have already led to clashes between demonstrators and the security forces, who have had to retreat in the face of the demonstrators’ determination. The intensity of the protests has reached a whole new level.

And suddenly, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has also appeared in the official discourse. The state news agency “Fars News Agency” reported that Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the NCRI, had called on social media for the formation of protest chains across the country.

Given the bloodlust of the mullahs, who continue to execute hundreds of political and non-political prisoners, the rise in protests is understandable. A regime that can only remain in power through the use of brutal force and repression has had its day.

How the mullahs intend to calm the protests again is anyone’s guess. The aging rulers lack a strategy and now have almost the entire population against them. After decades under the rule of the Shah and decades of a despotic theocracy, Iranians long for democracy, human rights, security, and the fulfillment of their basic needs. But under the mullahs, the Iranians have lost all of this and must now fight to regain their freedom and dignity.

The incidents in Iran are too numerous to list, as are the executions. According to well-informed sources in Iran, the only thing that is clear at the moment is that the current wave of protests across the country can no longer be contained. Now we can only hope that the Iranians will succeed in driving out the well-equipped Revolutionary Guards and sending the mullahs to hell. Such an overthrow would in any case be better than the regime being toppled by new American attacks.

The mullahs’ time is up, and Iran is currently on the path to democracy, with the NCRI playing the role of an umbrella organization for the resistance, given how well-connected this exile organization is. It will also be the NCRI’s task to inform the international community about how the Iranian resistance can be helped in concrete terms. Hopes are growing that 2026 will be the year of a democratic new beginning in Iran.