@Hanks how do you see this playing out over the coming weeks and months?
the fire is alive and that's something that doesn't look like being stopped anytime soon. Forms of protests are embarrassing the IRIB state TV last few days too...some examples:
- Esteghlal won the Iranian version of Super Cup in empty stadium (all footy games are being played behind closed door due to protests), and the player who scored the winner cried after it and during the cup-giving "ceremony" , no one celebrated to the point that the TV had to cut away from live broadcast.
Earlier today, in the Beach Football tournament in UAE, Iran team refused to sing the Islamic Republic national anthem ...
Literally the only thing I'm now looking forward to at the World Cup is to see Iran fans boo the anthem, chant against regime, and I hope the players will do something too (but I wouldn't bank on it).
There is national boycott of companies who still advertise on IRIB (basically giving money for oppression and paying wages of the oppressive forces on the streets) ... almost everyone I know is becoming somehow politically active, in their own way, and even in small form. The Iranian Rial has reached a record low vs. USD (37,000) and I've read that the Tehran bazaar will go on strike if it reaches 40,000.
I talked to my dad to walk me through the revolution process of 1979, and he said no doubt we're on revolutionary path and we're months away (my dad is usually very pessimistic in giving estimation).
He mentioned as the protests continue, more and more of their own will abandon sinking ship and eventually we get to point where revolution can't be stopped and that's when the army switches.
However, these guys are infinitely more bloodthirsty and disregarding of human lives than Shah was....so it'll take a massive death toll unless the army doesn't sit on its ass.
I mean they have already hired oppressive forces from Lebanon and Iraq (my grandma was saying they were speaking Arabic not Farsi), so it's a sign that they are over-extending themselves already and we may be closer than what appears.
The regime advertised a mass pro-regime rally this Friday, forcing public employees, etc to go but they had to use photoshopped and archive footage from years ago .... they can't even get their own people out in force anymore. All of these are very encouraging signs that the cracks are appearing from within.
Talking to my old high school mates in our telegram channel, those in Iran are saying the mood is kill or be killed. my friend said it's completely opposite of silent million people protests of 2009. and actually looking back, that was the year that any hope of "reform" ended. In hindsight, what a missed opportunity.
We had 3-4 MILLION people on the streets in Tehran...the regime could have been ended then. but it was betrayed by the reformists (both 'reformist' presidential candidates of 2009 have been under house-arrest since) ...and since then, the slogans, and the overall mood has become more and more radical, to the point that many of the chants on the street are some of the most vulgar words in Persian language against the regime, akhoonds, imams, etc.
@ThatsGreat I would say from Iran's 85 million population (70% of which are under 40), they have maybe 5 million support. Half of those support them because they are mercenaries and they get financial benefits and paid well by them, and about 2-3 million genuinely propagandized people who genuinely think Khamenei is the representative of Allah and living and obeying Islamic Republic will give them life in heaven after death.