This is the beginning of the end for the Islamic RepublicOpinion by Con Coughlin
For decades, the default response of Iran’s ayatollahs when confronted with anti-government protests has been to respond with brutal force. This was how they succeeded in crushing the 2009 Green Revolution, which resulted in thousands of Iranian demonstrators being killed and tortured; this ended the most serious popular revolt the Islamic Republic had faced since the 1979 Iranian revolution.
More recently similar tactics were applied after nationwide protests erupted in 2022, after a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman died in police custody after she was arrested for the relatively innocuous offence of not wearing a hijab. Hundreds of people lost their lives – including a number of children – as the Iranian authorities moved quickly to end the dissent.
And, judging by the regime’s response to the latest outbreak of anti-government protests, the ayatollahs are attempting to use the same tactics to reassert their authority, with reports already emerging of several fatalities across the country.
The crucial difference is that, this time, the regime’s ability to defend itself has been seriously compromised by the inherent weakness of the position it finds itself in.
Having been humiliated during last summer’s 12-day war with Israel, which resulted in the destruction of key elements of its nuclear and military infrastructure, the regime’s plight has been compounded by the dramatic economic collapse that has taken place since hostilities ended.
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Source:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/this-is-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-the-islamic-republic/ar-AA1Tt5zd
