Persian Spring in Iran!

Persian Spring in Iran!

-Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

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The crisis long expected in Iran has just struck, presumably as the enemies of Islam and Iran sought.

Upon their tremendous success in destabilizing Arab nations, the USA-Israel fascist twins try to make Arab Spring a Persian Spring as well by activating and accelerating unrest in Iran while Iranians think they are the same people who first destabilized Arab nations.

USA and Israel have succeeded in extending “Arab Spring” to Iran, making it a Persian Spring, killing many.

Israel has recently declared that “Israel and the United States have secretly signed a far-reaching joint memorandum of understanding providing for full cooperation to deal with Iran’s nuclear drive.” As part of the secret deal, both countries seek to put “steps on the ground” in order to attack Iran covertly. The secret deal was made on December 12 at the White House. Just a few days later, Trump tweeted that “Many reports of peaceful protests by Iranian citizens fed up with regime’s corruption and its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad. Iranian govt should respect their people’s rights, including right to express themselves.

In fact, Trump a heavy fellow perhaps thinks Netanyahu – and not himself – should receive a Nobel Peace Prize for brutally controlling the besieged Palestinians, killing even children in Palestine and he believes that Obama should not have got it.

Protests across Iran saw their most violent night as “armed protesters” tried to overrun military bases and police stations before security forces repelled them, killing 10 people, Iranian state television said. The demonstrations, the largest to strike Iran since its disputed 2009 presidential election, have seen five days of unrest across the country and a death toll of at least 13 with the slaying of a police officer announced late Monday.

The protests began in Mashhad over economic issues and have expanded to several cities, with some protesters chanting against the government and the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hundreds of people have been arrested. Iranian state television aired footage of a ransacked private bank, broken windows, overturned cars and a firetruck that appeared to have been set ablaze. It said 10 people were killed by security forces during clashes Sunday night. “Some armed protesters tried to take over some police stations and military bases but faced serious resistance from security forces,” state TV said. In a later report, state TV said killed six people were killed in the western town of Tuyserkan, 295 kilometers (185 miles) southwest of Tehran, and three in the town of Shahinshahr, 315 kilometers (195 miles) south of Tehran.

Dictator Trump, who has been happily tweeting against Iranian government and in support of the protesters, continued into the New Year, describing Iran as “failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration.” “The great Iranian people have been repressed for many years,” he wrote. “They are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted. “TIME FOR CHANGE”, but not in Israel and USA!

Many in Iran distrust and hate Trump because he has refused to re-certify the nuclear deal and his travel bans have blocked Iranians from getting US visas. Israeli Netanyahu, calling the protesters “brave” and “heroic,” said in a video posted to YouTube that the protesters sought freedom, justice and “the basic liberties that have been denied to them for decades.” He criticized the Iranian regime’s response to the protests and also chided European governments for watching “in silence” as the protests turn violent.

Late Monday, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency said an assailant using a hunting rifle killed a policeman and wounded three other officers during a demonstration in the central city of Najafabad, about 320 kilometers (200 miles) south of Tehran.  On Sunday, Iran blocked access to Instagram and the popular messaging app Telegram used by activists to organize.

President Hassan Rouhani acknowledged the public’s anger over the Islamic Republic’s flagging economy, though he and others warned that the government wouldn’t hesitate to crack down on those it considers lawbreakers. That was echoed by judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, who urged authorities to confront rioters, state TV reported.”I demand all prosecutors across the country to get involved and the approach should be strong,” he said. Rouhani also stressed that Iran “has seen many similar events and passed them easily.”

The unrest now being witnessed in Iran reminds one of the history of British imperialism in Iran, inextricably linked to the D’Arcy concession, the creation of the Anglo-Persian (Iranian) Oil Company, and the infamous 1919 Anglo-Persian Agreement which effectively reduced Iran to the status of a British protectorate. .

In the anti-colonialist political milieu of the post-World War II scene in the developing world, the burgeoning conflict between Iranian nationalism and British oil interests takes concrete form.  the historical developments leading up to May of 1948, the tactics of the American and Israeli national security establishments up to the present moment in sustaining the notion of Eretz Yisrael, the genocidal deprivation of the legitimate political aspirations of the Palestinians, and the subterranean activities of the Israeli lobby worldwide, would unmask the same political and moral deficiencies inherent in what happened in Iran

USA and Israel are trying to revive the old system, which is regime change through subterfuge. But that will certainly prove difficult for both the United States and Israel because Russia is not going to stand on the sideline and watch Iran goes up in flame. In doing so, Israel and the United States are paying “Iranian” dissidents to shake the masses.

People across Iran took to the streets again on Sunday evening in defiance of a heavy presence of riot police and state warnings to stay away. Iranian authorities have threatened a crackdown against protesters and scrambled to block social media apps allegedly used to incite unrest as the biggest demonstrations in nearly a decade continued for a fourth day.

The demonstrations began over economic grievances on Thursday but have since taken on a political dimension, with unprecedented calls for the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to step down. Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, in his first comments about the protests, aired on national television on Sunday night, said “people have the right to criticize”, but said the authorities would not tolerate antisocial behavior. He said criticism was “different from violence and destroying public properties”.

The protests are the biggest in Iran since 2009, when demonstrators called for the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president after what they regarded as his fraudulent re-election. Officials said they arrested at least 200 people during demonstrations in central Tehran on Saturday. It was not clear how many were arrested in the provinces, which saw protests on a bigger scale than the capital. Two protesters were killed in western Iran on Saturday.

On Sunday Trump said that “people are finally getting ‘wise’ as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism”, adding that the US was “watching very closely for human rights violations”.

Rouhani, urging the nation to be vigilant, acknowledged that people were unhappy about the state of economy, corruption and a lack of transparency. “People are allowed under the constitution to criticize or even protest but in a way that at the end they lead to a better situation in the country for the people,” he said. Condemning the US president, Donald Trump, who has voiced support for the protests, Rouhani said: “This gentleman who today sympathizes with our people has forgotten that a few months ago he called us a terrorist nation. The one who has opposed the Iranian nation from his head to his toe has no right to express sympathy for people of Iran.”

Earlier in the day, Iran’s interior minister, Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazil, said authorities would not tolerate the “spreading of violence, fear and terror”, which he said would “definitely be confronted”.  “Those who damage public property, disrupt order, people’s security and break the law must be responsible for their behaviour and should answer and pay the price,” he said, according to the website of the state broadcaster Irib.

The broadcaster said authorities had blocked Instagram and the messaging app Telegram, which is the most popular social networking platform in Iran, citing an anonymous source who said the move was “in line with maintaining peace and security of the citizens”. Authorities said the filtering was temporary. A source in Iran told the Guardian the state had started blocking access to Telegram, but it was not covering all provinces yet.

Authorities said two protesters were killed in the western province of Lorestan on Saturday, but denied it was the result of clashes between demonstrators and riot police.

Many senior figures within the reformist camp and the opposition Green movement remain perplexed as to how to respond to the current wave of unrest. The sharp nature of some of the slogans, which have challenged the foundations of the Islamic republic, has left them mute.

There have been anti-Khamenei chants such as “Death to the dictator” and slogans opposing Iran’s regional policy, including “Let go of Syria, think about us” and “I give my life for Iran, not Gaza, not Lebanon”. There were also nostalgic slogans in support of the monarchy and the late shah, as well as some with a nationalistic nature, including

Iranian conservatives, while acknowledging ordinary people were protesting for what they said were mainly economic reasons, accused foreign powers of inciting violence and exploiting the situation.

Some videos showed protesters apparently setting bins on fire and trying to break into government buildings. The semi-official Tasnim news, which is close to the elite Revolutionary Guards, published a photo that it said showed a protester setting fire to the Iranian flag. There were chants of “Death to the Revolutionary Guards” in at least one city.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson issued a statement saying “there should be meaningful debate about the legitimate and important issues the protesters are raising and we look to the Iranian authorities to permit this….We regret the loss of life that has occurred in the protests in Iran, and call on all concerned to refrain from violence and for international obligations on human rights to be observed,” he said. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel also said in a statement that “after the confrontation of the past days it is all the more important for all sides to refrain from violent action.” Both countries were part of the 2015 nuclear deal.

USA-Israel twins target Iran and by weakening it they hope to use the population against the Islamic government. Iran’s economy has improved since the nuclear deal, which saw Iran agree to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the end of some international sanctions. Tehran now sells its oil on the global market and has signed deals to purchase tens of billions of dollars’ worth of Western aircraft.

Israel says the improvement has not reached the average Iranian. Unemployment remains high, and official inflation has crept up to 10 percent again. A recent increase in egg and poultry prices by as much as 40 percent, which the government has blamed on a cull over avian flu fears, appears to have been the spark for the economic protests.

While the protests have sparked clashes, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and its affiliates have not intervened as they have in other unauthorized demonstrations since the 2009 election. It wasn’t immediately clear if the Guard would change its posture given the reported attacks on police stations and military bases. In Tehran on Monday, streets were calm, though a heavy police presence was noticeable. Brig. Gen. Massoud Jazayeri , the Guard commander and deputy chief of staff for Iran’s military, said Monday that Trump’s support of the protesters “indicates planning by the USA for launching a new sedition in Iran.”

Amid not-so-subtle calls from USA for regime change in Iran, critics blasted Trump and his neoconservative allies on the right for misrepresenting and exploiting recent protests in the nation.

All anti-Islamic and anti-Iran rogues began attacking Iran and supporting the unrest and want the trouble to continue indefinitely. US dictator Trump wrote: “Iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration. The great Iranian people have been repressed for many years. They are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted.

Sen. John McCain, a notorious war hawk who infamously joked about bombing Iran a decade ago, tweeted: “The USA stands with the brave protesters who yearn for freedom, peace, and an end to corruption in Iran.”  Nuclear deal foe and US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley praised the “Iranian people who are now finding their voice.” Sen. Lindsey Graham who once called Iranians “cheaters and liars,” said the protests show the Iran nuclear deal isn’t working and that he would lay out what a “better deal would look like and … would stand with the Iranian people the entire time.”

As if USA really cares for human rights while torturing the falsely detained Muslims cruelly in secret places, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert tweeted that “Secretary Tillerson reiterates the United States’ deep respect for the Iranian people. We call on all nations to stand with us in demanding the regime respect their basic human rights.” The tweet came less than two weeks after it was revealed that Tillerson told State Dept. employees that allies and adversaries should get different treatment for human rights abuses.

Former US Ambassador to the United Nations and serial advocate for bombing innocent people and overthrowing foreign governments he dislikes John Bolton said clearly that regime change should be the goal of the protests, and praised dictator Trump for “taking the side of the demonstrators.” Israeli Netanyahu, meanwhile, even wished “the Iranian people success in their noble quest for freedom.” Commentators on social media were quick to point out the shallowness of such calls

The USA has been disrespecting, insulting, isolating, bullying, and punishing the Iranian people for 65 years because they wanted democracy. Dictator Trump pretended to pro poor- what is drama and nonsense.

Why the US never stands behind oppressed people in Saudi Arabia, or those being literally bombed and starved to death in Yemen-or Palestinians living under military law and apartheid.

Double talks are the passion for Americans. When the ISIS attacked Tehran, massacring civilians, Trump and many US politicians basically cheered on the attack as a good thing in Islamic world. Now they suddenly pretend to care about Iranians against the government

The size of the protests is much smaller than those of 2009, according to reports, but Iranian lawyer and Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi told Italian newspaper La Repubblica Sunday she believes “the protests are not going to end soon” and could very well swell.  At the moment though, writes Reza Marashi, research director for NIAC, “These protests more closely resemble a continuation of Iran’s long-standing civil rights movement rather than an attempt to overthrow the government.” But Marashi says one thing is clear: “Washington would be wise to acknowledge the limits of its power inside Iran where almost every Iranian is an anti-American. Policymakers cannot change this simple truth:

Israel and the USA have secretly signed a far-reaching joint memorandum of understanding providing for full cooperation to deal with Iran’s nuclear drive.” As part of the secret deal, both countries seek to put “steps on the ground” in order to attack Iran covertly. The deal was made on December 12 at the White House. Just a few days later, Trump tweeted that “Many reports of peaceful protests by Iranian citizens fed up with regime’s corruption and it’s squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad. Iranian govt should respect their people’s rights, including right to express themselves.

Many Iranians are sceptical about how the protests have spread so quickly. One prominent senior reformist commentator, Hamidreza Jalaipour, said reformists were opposed to protests instigated by “advocates of regime change”, implying that the new wave of protests was not spontaneous. A protester from Tehran University told the Guardian by phone that although students were puzzled about how the protests were organised and spreading so quickly, they were not “getting leads from anyone”.

President Rouhani may have options: it can follow the example of its predecessors (Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani after the protests of the early 1990s and Mohammad Khatami after the 1999 student uprising and opt for a more cautious path, or capitalize on public discontent to push the system towards more genuine reforms. He may have other options too. That choice however, may not ultimately determine the Islamic Republic’s fate.

In fact, both Trump and Netanyahu are trying to revive the old system, which is regime change through subterfuge. But that will certainly prove difficult for both the United States and Israel because Russia is not going to stand on the sideline and watch Iran goes up in flame. USA would try all gimmicks to bring Moscow to its side.

The problems are USA and Israel: the protestors are Iranian, and the solution will also be Iranian.  USA and Israel have no role in it.