Some Notes About 2026 Protests in Iran 2.0
1- In the Ocean of Misinformation and Fastfoodization
It has been two weeks since my first notes on the recent events in Iran. The government has maintained the internet shutdown, although some selected websites and platforms are now accessible (white-listed), mainly for regime supporters to spread their agenda. Meanwhile, several VPNs are functional again, with rumors suggesting that wider internet access might return soon. Internationally, Donald Trump's statements about being "locked and loaded" did not lead to support for protesters, but instead seemed to signal military escalation or intervention in the Middle East. While threatening other countries with tariffs and focusing on anti-China rhetoric, Trump paradoxically invited leaders like Mr. Warcriminal Putin to his so-called "board of peace." Considering he already invited two of the most infamous individuals on the planet, I wonder what the objectives are for this group of corrupted fellas. What an amazing time to be a politician-comedian. (Interestingly enough, one of the few sane politicians left at the moment used to be an actual comedian and still has a better understanding of politics)
2- The Issues with Pro-Israeli Diaspora
As a member of the Iranian diaspora, I think I need to address some issues that I witnessed over the last couple of weeks. First of all, I don't defend the point of bringing the Israeli flag to demonstrations. I do understand Israel is one of the few countries that "on paper" supports the protests, yet I don't think it's a good idea to involve a group of genocidal maniacs. At the same time, some Iranians were nagging about why the Muslim community or the Arab countries were ignoring the protesters or repeating the regime's narrative of them being Mossad agents. Recalling the last couple of years, many Iranians were glazing Netanyahu's atrocious crimes in Gaza while partaking in Pro-Israel rallies in the West, trying to represent the Iranian diaspora as a secular community, which is absurd considering they/we literally escaped a radical religious regime only to take the same side as another radical religious regime. I'm not a huge fan of Israel's contribution to this, and taking their flag was disgusting (like everything else about them).
3- You ain't Left, You are Just Performative
Online activism is useful from time to time, and there are several proper instances, as we have seen the success of MeToo, BLM, and even Pro-Palestine movements in the last 10 years. However, there's always a chance of miscalculation with this type of activism, just like anything else. Unfortunately, many of the global north activists ended up recounting the same propaganda that the Iranian regime is trying to push since the public protests broke out. As I mentioned, the most famous ones are "Protesters are Mossad agents" and "USA paid them to riot," and adding it to the astonishing record of the USA interventions in the global south and Israel's campaign of horror, these are easy narratives to sell in the fast-paced world of social media. As I wrote in my post about how many leftists misinterpreted the motives of the protests, the lack of familiarity with the Iranian demographic resulted in the conception of "Iran being a muslim country," which is conceivably the biggest lie that the Islamic Republic has been trying to establish for the last half a century. Two things can be true at the same time: A) Israel is doing a genocide in Gaza, and B) Khamenei, who has fought with Israel via proxies and during the 12-day war, is doing a massacre in Iran. If you support one of these notions and oppose the other, you are just a performative hypocrite who doesn't really care about the losses but the ideology.
4- Why I Don't Support a New War
History has shown us that there is no good in war, and if something is worse than a war, it is an American war. From nuking Japan to fully destroying Libya, Afghanistan, and Yemen, I don't truly remember any war in which the US intervention had a positive outcome. Some might mention the USA's presence in WW2, but let's be honest and forget Trump’s gaslighting; the Soviets were the reason for Hitler's defeat, and I say that as someone who doesn't even like Stalin or any other Soviet leader to begin with. American propaganda did an incredible job of retelling that story and portraying themselves as the savior. Also, I don't live in Iran. For sure, my parents, friends, and relatives are still there, and I might not judge anyone inside the country who advocates for the US intervention, but as a person living his life without any threat of war, I can't do that. It's been almost 6 months since the 12-day war, and I do remember how Israel, which could easily kill any IRGC commander, was also killing innocent citizens with missiles and drones, so yeah, I can't support that as I didn't back then. My morals were always against any war, and I don't see any logic to change that, considering going through it by myself and witnessing my friends in Ukraine, Iraq, and Afghanistan still suffering from the pains and wounds of the war at home.
5- Zahhak
I had the chance to talk with some of my friends in Iran. Some said there's a smell of "blood" in the streets. Some said everyone knows at least one person who has either been killed by the regime or arrested during the protests. Discussions about "who is responsible?" are all over Twitter, and while I definitely blame both Trump and Reza Pahalavi for lying to the protesters about the "help on the way," knowing the animality of the regime, nobody is as responsible as Khamenei for this horrendous massacre. In Iran, we have an ancient tale about a tyrant called "Zahhak" who used to kill two people every day to feed the snakes he had on his shoulders. The reports are talking about numbers as large as 12,000 to 30,000 deaths at the moment, and I don't know how many snakes Khamenei has on his shoulders at this point.