🐊𐬴 Sousmār

The stupid and unnecessary war that Israel and the US launched together, with Israel pulling Washington in, seemed to have one real objective: the Gazafication of Iran. Not only did that not materialise, but this war became the hand of God that saved the Islamic Republic from internal collapse. After the midterms, the US and a reluctant Israel will end this war from a position of weakness, not unlike the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, and leave the most brutal and murderous elements within the IR with the upper hand for years to come, in a strategic alliance with Russia and China. The Saudis, the Emirates, Qatar and everyone else around the Persian Gulf will have to accept the new reality of living under the balls of the Revolutionary Guards, who can close the Strait of Hormuz at whim. As the Islamic Republic has absolutely no regard for the life and safety of its citizens, it could not care less about retaliation and civilian casualties the way a normal government would. And this came at a total economic cost of hundreds of billions of dollars, massive destruction in Iran and other countries in the region, and the lives of many innocent people. Not to mention worsening food shortages, the disruption of the educational system, and a huge and tragic environmental disaster in the making in the Persian Gulf and on the shores on both sides. When the dust settles, supporting this war will go down as a historic mistake, and that includes Reza Pahlavi and the monarchist movement. As much as I dislike the Islamic Republic, one message needed to be sent to the West years ago: bombing the general population of Iran, as was done in Iraq and Afghanistan, or as Israel has done in Gaza, with massive airstrikes and missiles that destroy critical infrastructure like schools and hospitals, with no regard for the lives of innocent men, women and children, should and will have consequences. We are not subhuman animals you can bomb from time to time. Iran has shown it can inflict pain on its enemies, and deterrence matters no matter who is in charge of the country. None of the above exonerates the Islamic Republic, its murder machine, or the thuggishness and incompetence that got us into this mess to start with. But as we have hopefully found out once and for all, the future of Iran has to be solved within the political landscape of Iran and among the different oppositions to this system. The Islamic Republic in its current form is not sustainable, but there are no shortcuts. Until the communist, humanist, Islamist, monarchist and other factions learn to compromise and coexist, we will stay in this mess. But maybe, as dark as this time is, we can build that compromise from here. I call on all opposition groups to gather, negotiate and create a credible, united front against the Islamic Republic that can rally internal and external support for real change in Iran and move us away from this vicious cycle of violence and destruction of our country. We, the people of Iran, can do better than this. We deserve a better future for us and our children.