What The Hell Is Happening In Iran?

By Brandon Turbeville

A familiar sight is taking place across Iran tonight and it has been for the last three days. Protests are taking place in numerous cities citing grievances and demanding that the Ayatollah and Iranian President step down. For a few days, the protests remained non-violent but now violence has indeed flared up as protesters have laid waste to a number of government properties and those belonging to “pro-government militias.”

Neo-cons in the American media and the U.S. President are all demanding that Americans stand with the “Iranian people” and the “protesters” in their “fight for freedom.”

The reason this sight is familiar is because we have seen it in Egypt, Libya, and Syria in the past as well as in Iran itself in the late 2000s. Protests that turn violent, a subsequent crackdown that either is violent or is reported as such, and the weight of American propaganda against the target government are all “Arab Spring” repeats that are themselves nothing more than the color revolution/destabilization apparatus that has been used by the West in countries all across the world for decades, particularly in the last twenty years.

What Do The Protesters Want?

The alleged demands of the protesters seem reasonable and legitimate enough. The Western media has, up until this point, been reporting that the main argument being made by the demonstrators center around economic concerns, i.e. falling living standards, unemployment, and rising food prices. However, as the third day of protests took place, the Western media began reporting that the protesters are demanding an end to religious dictatorship and policies of both the Ayatollah Khamenei and President Rouhani. According to some reports, female protesters have gone so far as to shout “death to Khamenei” and shed their hijabs in order to construct makeshift flags. Others say the protesters are focused on government corruption.

However, there is much question about these protests. The first question is “Are they organic Iranian protests?” This question has yet to be answered fully. Iran is most certainly a religious dictatorship and many Iranians want freedom from religious rule. However, it should be remembered that the United States and Israel have openly stated a desire to see Iranian influence broken and as recently as 2009, the United States attempted to engineer a color revolution in the country. The first three days of the Green Movement in Iran looked very much like the first three days of this current movement.

Clearly, economic concerns are a major issue in Iran, a country whose economy has been suffering for years under Western sanctions and whose own inability to capitalize on a state-owned National Bank. Official unemployment in Iran is around 12% and it is likely that the real rate is much higher. Despite lifting of some sanctions, there is hardly economic growth in the country, another result of neo-liberal economic and trade policies. Yet, it is also worth noting that Khamenei has also been critical of the poor economy and the handling of economic issues by the government yet Khamenei is being insulted at the protests.

These demands are not unreasonable by any stretch of the imagination. However, the religious protests come at a very odd time. Iran recently liberalized its laws regarding women’s forced head coverings, so why protest now over religious laws?

In addition, special attention must be paid to the concept of “government corruption,” a hallmark of color revolutions since government corruption is often more of a conceptual issue than anything concrete. A step down from power from a few key people, wrist slaps, and token reform can all achieve an “end” to corruption while more concrete demands need concrete applications and thus present a minor loss to those who will taking over the rains of power after the demonstrations have ceased.

There are also more concerning demands that can be found in the slogans being chanted by the demonstrators. First, in case it could be missed, the demonstrators are calling for the Ayatollah and the President to step down. In other words, they are calling for regime change. This is precisely what the United States, GCC, NATO, and Israel also want to see happen.

Second, numerous demonstrators are chanting “Let go of Palestine,” and “Not for Gaza, Not for Lebanon, I’d give my life (only) for Iran.” Again, protesters are now chanting foreign policy demands identical to that desired by the United States, NATO, GCC, and Israel. All this in a protest that is supposed to be about economic concerns.

Moon of Alabama, in its article entitled “Iran – Regime Change Agents Hijack Economic Protests,” reveals a number of important reports regarding the beginning of the protests and where they stand currently. MOA writes,

Protests against the (neo-)liberal economic policies of the Rohani government in Iran are justified. Official unemployment in Iran is above 12% and there is hardly any economic growth. The people in the streets are not the only ones who are dissatisfied with this:

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has repeatedly criticized the government’s economic record, said on Wednesday that the nation was struggling with “high prices, inflation and recession”, and asked officials to resolve the problems with determination.

On Thursday and today the slogans of some protesters turned the call for economic relief into a call for regime change.

. . . . .

Today, Friday and the weekly day off in Iran, several more protest took place in other cities. A Reuters report from today:

About 300 demonstrators gathered in Kermanshah after what Fars called a “call by the anti-revolution” and shouted “Political prisoners should be freed” and “Freedom or death”, while destroying some public property. Fars did not name any opposition groups.

Footage, which could not be verified, showed protests in other cities including Sari and Rasht in the north, Qom south of Tehran, and Hamadan in the west.

Mohsen Nasj Hamadani, deputy security chief in Tehran province, said about 50 people had rallied in a Tehran square and most left after being asked by police, but a few who refused were “temporarily detained”, the ILNA news agency reported.

Some of these protests have genuine economic reasons but get hijacked by other interests:

In the central city of Isfahan, a resident said protesters joined a rally held by factory workers demanding back wages.

“The slogans quickly changed from the economy to those against (President Hassan) Rouhani and the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei),” the resident said by telephone.

Purely political protests are rare in Iran […] but demonstrations are often held by workers over layoffs or non-payment of salaries and people who hold deposits in non-regulated, bankrupt financial institutions.

Alamolhoda, the representative of Ayatollah Khamenei in northeastern Mashhad, said a few people had taken advantage of Thursday’s protests against rising prices to chant slogans against Iran’s role in regional conflicts.

“Some people had came to express their demands, but suddenly, in a crowd of hundreds, a small group that did not exceed 50 shouted deviant and horrendous slogans such as ‘Let go of Palestine’, ‘Not Gaza, not Lebanon, I’d give my life (only) for Iran’,” Alamolhoda said.

Media and Neo-Con Support

While it is to be expected from a virulently anti-Iran administration and mainstream press in the United States, it is interesting how the U.S. President immediately has latched on the protests, encouraging Americans to stand with the protesters and their demands. This is coming from a man who rarely sees a protest that isn’t directed at him. Meanwhile, Neo-Con organs like FOX News are also repeating calls for Americans to support the brave “freedom fighters” in Iran. It is seldom, if ever, true that evil does good in the world so when Neo-Cons call for support to protests, eyebrows should be raised in skepticism.

It is also important to question just how popular these protests are. While mainstream western media and various terrorist organizations also conveniently supporting them paint them as involving tens of thousands at each demonstration, video and pictures tend to show only dozens to hundreds at the most while others wander about around them.

“A video of that protest in Mashad showed some 50 people chanting slogans with more bystander just milling around,” writes MOA. . . . . “Two videos posted by BBC Persian and others I have seen show only small active protest groups with a dozen or so people while many more are just standing by or film the people who are chanting slogans.”

Trump Administration/Israel Agreement

The protests taking place in Iran are taking place only a month after the White House and Tel Aviv met to discuss a strategy on Iran. “A delegation led by Israel’s National Security Adviser met with senior American officials in the White House earlier this month for a joint discussion on strategy to counter Iran’s aggression in the Middle East, a senior U.S. official confirmed to Haaretz,” wrote Haaretz agency. (Israeli Delegation Met U.S. Officials to Discuss ‘Iran Strategy,’ Syria)

AXIOS provides a quote from the meeting:

[T]he U.S. and Israel see eye to eye the different developments in the region and especially those that are connected to Iran. We reached at understandings regarding the strategy and the policy needed to counter Iran. Our understandings deal with the overall strategy but also with concrete goals, way of action and the means which need to be used to get obtain those goals.

Could this apparent color revolution be the result of that US/Israeli meeting?

Color Revolution In Iran

The idea that a color revolution could be attempted in Iran is no fantasy. It would be a repeat of history. Remember, in 2009, an attempt at a color revolution deemed the “Green Revolution” was launched but was quickly put down by the iron fist of the Iranian government.

The Path To Persia

The plan for a Western or a Western/Israeli attack on Iran, along with the theatre of alleged US-Israeli tensions leading up to a strike and outright war, has been in the works for some time. For instance, in 2009, the Brookings Institution, a major banking, corporate, and military-industrial firm, released a report entitled “Which Path To Persia? Options For A New American Strategy For Iran,” in which the authors mapped out a plan which leaves no doubt as to the ultimate desire from the Western financier, corporate, and governing classes.

The plan involves the description of a number of ways the Western oligarchy would be able to destroy Iran including outright military invasion and occupation. However, the report attempts to outline a number of methods that might possibly be implemented before direct military invasion would be necessary. The plan included attempting to foment destabilization inside Iran via the color revolution apparatus, violent unrest, proxy terrorism, and “limited airstrikes” conducted by the US, Israel or both.

The report states,

Because the Iranian regime is widely disliked by many Iranians, the most obvious and palatable method of bringing about its demise would be to help foster a popular revolution along the lines of the “velvet revolutions” that toppled many communist governments in Eastern Europe beginning in 1989. For many proponents of regime change, it seems self-evident that the United States should encourage the Iranian people to take power in their own name, and that this would be the most legitimate method of regime change. After all, what Iranian or foreigner could object to helping the Iranian people fulfill their own desires?

Moreover, Iran’s own history would seem to suggest that such an event is plausible. During the 1906 Constitutional Movement, during the late 1930s, arguably during the 1950s, and again during the 1978 Iranian Revolution, coalitions of intellectuals, students, peasants, bazaari merchants, Marxists, constitutionalists, and clerics mobilized against an unpopular regime. In both 1906 and 1978, the revolutionaries secured the support of much of the populace and, in so doing, prevailed. There is evidence that the Islamic regime has antagonized many (perhaps all) of these same factions to the point where they again might be willing to support a change if they feel that it could succeed. This is the foundational belief of those Americans who support regime change, and their hope is that the United States can provide whatever the Iranian people need to believe that another revolution is feasible.

Of course, popular revolutions are incredibly complex and rare events. There is little scholarly consensus on what causes a popular revolution, or even the conditions that facilitate them. Even factors often associated with revolutions, such as military defeat, neglect of the military, economic crises, and splits within the elite have all been regular events across the world and throughout history, but only a very few have resulted in a popular revolution. Consequently, all of the literature on how best to promote a popular revolution— in Iran or anywhere else—is highly speculative. Nevertheless, it is the one policy option that holds out the prospect that the United States might eliminate all of the problems it faces from Iran, do so at a bearable cost, and do so in a manner that is acceptable to the Iranian people and most of the rest of the world.

Conclusion

While the situation in Iran continues to develop, it appears that another color revolution is underway. While many of the demands are legitimate, all signs are pointing toward Western treachery in an attempt to break Iran in the final domino to fall in the Middle East before an even bigger confrontation is ignited. Destroying Iran would also destroy Hezbollah, weaken Syria and Russia, and threaten Israel. Whether or not it will succeed will depend on the level of subversion that has been possible by the United States intelligence apparatus since 2009 and the ability of Iran to squash the revolt. If anything can be learned from the 2009 revolution, Iran will move quickly and will smash the protests with an iron fist. However, if the protests taking place in Iran today are indeed a color revolution and if the West is committed, the Path to Persia will likely see an escalation in activity, violence, and ultimately directly military confrontation by proxy and even by the U.S. military itself.

We will following these protests in detail over the coming days.

Brandon Turbeville writes for Activist Post – article archive here – He is the author of seven books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President, and Resisting The Empire: The Plan To Destroy Syria And How The Future Of The World Depends On The Outcome. Turbeville has published over 1000 articles on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s radio show Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. His website is BrandonTurbeville.com He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.

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27 Comments on "What The Hell Is Happening In Iran?"

  1. I wonder how much Washington spent to start and maintain those protests?

  2. Clearly, the history of American/Israeli economic and igniting internal unrest strategy is behind this effort to further demonize a country that wants to be left alone and operate its’ own monetary system. It is certainly not without precedent. https://www.globalresearch.ca/has-the-u-s-played-a-role-in-fomenting-unrest-during-iran-s-election/14095

  3. I believe that Iran has a substantial military and several powerful friends. These friends are also able to see what is happening and may choose to intervene on behalf of Iran. Better to take a stand on someone else’s soil than your own. Russia must take a stand sooner than later and have also publicly made the statement ” Never on their soil “so Iran will do just fine.

  4. never ceases to amaze me what unrestrained (((counterfeit currency))) purchases, anywhere on the globe. …completely neutralizing 99% of the population with the click of a mouse

  5. Was that a typo in the final paragraph, that destroying Iran would threaten Israel, or are you seeing something I’m not?

  6. Black lives matter, Antifa, the maidan massacre, CIA ,mossad, israel, NGO’s, your typical regime change shennaigans. It didn’t seem to work as well here in the US as it does in some foreign countries. But we are already zionist ruled. Iran handled it last time they tried this, hopefully they can handle it this time. The main thing to know is your dealing with enemy agents and foreign financing.

    • Iran “handled it” last time???? “Hopefully they can handle it this time” What????
      You sound like a ProgreSSive Putz. Everything is not a “NeoCon” coup. I agree with you on your views of domestic FBI/CIA as well as the NWO “arab spring” tyrannies, But the Mullah Jimmy Carter Iranian Revolution was just the first NWO Islamofascist revolution.
      This appears to be an outbreak for Liberty. It does happen, Did you oppose those standing up to the Chicom tanks in Peking?
      Iranians had more liberty under the Shah than under the Mullahs. Iraqis had more liberty under Sadam Hussein than they have now, certainly more peace, even under his tyranny which was abhorrent.
      There is an underlying truth few mention to the brutality of the Middle East…….. Islam and Muslims.
      Over 1400 years of domination and wars to eliminate Kafirs from the face of the earth….. turned back at the Battle of Tours in France and the Gates of Vienna.
      There was a time when Jews and Christians lived in Mecca and Medina, Alexandria, Constantinople, and even in the early 1950’s Beirut was known as the “Paris of the Middle East”. Now Paris is becoming the new Beirut, along with Londonistan and even here in Dearbornstan.
      Islam is not a “religion” it is a Total Control Mechanism, no different than other tyrannical Ism’s, and must be opposed unless it undergoes a fundamental reformation, which I doubt is even possible.
      I don’t see many “reformed” Nazis or Lenninists or NWO oligarchs; but I will agree No One has totally clean hands. All the best to you and yours.

  7. This critique hits the nail on the head: why are protesters chanting to oust the man who just won an election against the hardliners? And why is Trump without a clue about what is going on (unless it is a kind of false flag provocation of which he IS aware) calling out Iran, which is reacting to violent protesters, while saying nothing about the fact that Saudi Arabia, whom he has embraced, is about to behead 14 people for protesting, including one who is disabled?

    Here is Rouhani, elected in a landslide in May, urging calm: “President Hassan Rouhani tried to calm the nation on Sunday, saying that people had the right to protest and acknowledging public concerns over the economy and corruption.

    “We are a free nation, and based on the Constitution and citizenship rights, people are completely free to express their criticism and even their protest,” Mr. Rouhani said, according to the state-run PressTV.

    But he also exhorted Iranians not to resort to violence, after reports of protesters attacking banks and municipal buildings across the nation, including a local government building in Tehran.” NYTimes

    Clearly, Trump either knows who is behind these protests or is exploiting them (he is itching for a pretext to attack Iran…so long friendly relations with Russia, China, and Iraq, all military allies of Iran) while totally ignoring that his allies in Saudi Arabia are about to cut off heads for peaceful protests. Something really stinks!

    If Rouhani goes, the hardliners replace him. This only re-enforces the theocrats….so the whole agenda makes no sense at all. This article suggests what is really going on, another fake revolution to create a pretext for destabilization and US military action……all on behalf of “the Iranian People” who just voted for Rouhani in May by a landslide of 23 million to 15 million for his nearest rival. To argue that the People want regime change is to ignore the recent election and to impose a false history on Iran in order to create chaos and a pretext to attack it.

    • Isn’t it strange how the US always talks of freedom and democracy and human rights and yet has never accepted countries that have elections and always calls them out as corrupt and supports regime change like in Ukraine coup even thou they could have had fair elections in 2015 but the US could wait for that and never accepted Crimea obvious determination to join Russia was considered illegal.

      • Absolutely 1000% correct!!!

      • The reason Iran is the place it is today is because of the 1953 illegal CIA regime overthrow there protecting UK oil interests!
        All of this suffering ever since because the good old CIA was “spreading democracy and freedom”!!

      • “To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself. That was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word ‘doublethink’ involved the use of doublethink.” [1984 p31]

  8. As an iranian i could say that the people are fed up now. The revolution in 1979 was a big mistake as they were promised things they did not get. It got even worse. Now they want to go back as this is the only way to a free iran. The islamic rule on iran is a joke and should be removed

  9. A U.S.-friendly regime in Iran means:
    • Ending Iranian support for terrorism.
    • Balance between Shias and Sunnis in the region.
    • Ending the nuclear threat.
    • Blocking the spread of radical Islam to Europe and the U.S.
    • Recognition of Israel by the largest country in the Middle East, with friendly relations and trade.
    • Ending Iran’s drive to dominate the region and the threat to Saudi Arabia.
    • Neutralizing Russian influence in the region.
    • Protecting the U.S. Dollar’s reserve currency status.
    • A huge new market for U.S. business, civilian and military, hundreds of billions of dollars in new trade agreements.
    • Secure, stable energy supplies for the world.
    • Ending North Korean trade in the region.
    • Avoiding another protracted and expensive war in the Middle East.

    • Why should Russian influence be neutralized?
      Russian influence in Syria was a Godsend!!!
      Unlike what the UK/USA dithering did for 4 years after their illegal regime change plans there.
      Why not neutralize US influence for once and the world may become a more harmonious place?
      You are currently sticking your noses in over 70 (!!!) sovereign nations across the globe and it has nothing to do with US security and everything to do with corporate and economical control of those nations for your own self (ish) interest.
      Get your facts right!!

    • A U.S.-friendly regime in Iran means:
      Ending Iranian support for terrorism – in other words replacing nothing with american support for terrorism
      Balance between Shias and Sunnis in the region – no, we probably need more shias, NO, actually we could do with less extremist moslems of whichever flavour
      Blocking the spread of radical Islam to Europe and the U.S. – almost none of it coming from Iran anyway
      Ending Iran’s drive to dominate the region and the threat to Saudi Arabia – Iran is the counterfoil that is keeping saudi arabia from totally dominating the region
      the rest of your list all looks skew as well
      the most protracted and expensive war in the middle east – america’s illegal, illegitimate unnecessary invasion of Afghanistan (a sovereign nation) october 2001 till today, now into seventeenth year and counting, no one else will ever even come close

    • “Ending the nuclear threat.”
      Is Israel also getting rid of their nukes?
      “Ending Iranian support for terrorism.”
      What terrorists does Iran support?? Last time I checked they are fighting together with Syria against all the different, supported by the west and allies, terrorist groups in the region.

      “Blocking the spread of radical Islam to Europe and the U.S.”
      c’mon now, you’re either ignorant and/or biased to the extend that you apparently can’t discern reality with any clarity.
      Iran a source for radical Islam, what a joke. Everybody knows that it is mainly Wahhabi, Salafist ideologies that radicalise Muslims. Primarily coming from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.

  10. It sure seems as though the U.S. government is very much in favor of the “2nd Amendment” for revolutionaries in other nations. Any semblance of such among the citizens in America is met with Federal firepower, jail time and even death.

  11. The deep state is stirring it up again. They never take a day off do they!

  12. Same old horse-shit with a big six pointy star behind it. So tiresome, the good thing is I feel a huge reckoning coming in 2018, trumpy will be stripped of his neo-cunts or he will go down.

  13. They tryna pull a Libya on Iran

  14. It is not a color revolution. The main body of the current protesters is from workers, not middle class. Many middle-class protesters who were active in 2009 “green movement” are passive or even critical of what is going on. Following color movements ideology these neoliberal scums are not happy with applying violent tactics like setting gov properties on fire.
    workers struggle needs support. The U.S. Gov tries to mislead the movement, but it is neither theirs nor any other states’ puppet. By the way, your statement about recent liberalizing of hijab is absolute B.S. there has not been such a law or any sign of tolerance in term of religious crap in Islamic Republic policy.

  15. Iran has one of the last ‘state-run’ central banks in the world, and it is a ‘middle finger’ to the federal reserve and the BIS in Switzerland. That is the reason for this contrived upheaval.

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