Khamenei is (finally) Dead.
This is not about endorsing war, nor supporting two genocidal pedophiles who do not follow any international "law", but about the sense of happiness that many Iranians around the world are experiencing in real time as an outcome of the death of Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader of monstrosity and massacres.
Yesterday I was on a call with my parents when the invasion started. Subsequently, the call was shut down due to the regime's decision to shut down the internet, using the same old tactics at this point. I was trying to stay in touch with my friends in the capital during the day, checking the news, and at the same time, absorbing the mental breakdowns of my other friends in the diaspora. In the evening, I was watching “The Last King of Scotland”, a very mediocre movie about Idi Amin, the former dictator of Uganda who slaughtered thousands of people in the country he was ruling for years. Idi Amin died in exile after years of humiliation by everyone in the world. Unfortunately, Khamenei did not have the same fate.
I woke up around 6 am as usual. Checked the news, and saw the most unexpected thing: Khamenei was killed. I couldn't digest my feelings. I was furious, resentful, and disgusted by the reports of the war from the day before, and now I can feel an absurd pleasure after knowing the fact that he's finally dead. My feelings are changing from happiness to despair every minute. I have the despair of comprehending the many lives that are gone by his order and the unclear destiny of my country, and I have the happiness of knowing that there is no one alive named Seyed Ali Khameni. He's dead.
Regardless, this was never the finale I wanted for him. I was hoping for the same conclusion as Saddam and Gaddafi. I desired to watch him go through a trial like many after the fall of Nazi in Germany. To feel the same distress that Stalin and Hitler went through before their demise. Yet, Khamenei became a "martyr", something that he had constantly wished for. He is dead, but this was never the death he deserved. He's dead, but this was the bare minimum that he deserved for the thousands of innocents he murdered.
I wish nothing but freedom and bliss for Iranians. While I’m indeed concerned about the chance of a new crisis, similar to Libya and Iraq, I still do have hope for a better future. A better future, one that no dictator can rule, in my dear Iran.
Khamenei is dead, and I hope this will be a fresh start to a better tomorrow for Iran.