Iran's protesters need our support not another western-intervention disaster | Owen Jones

"Because it severed the country's internet connection, facts are difficult to establish, but the respected Human Rights Activists in Iran has confirmed 544 have been killed and well over 10,000 arrested those numbers are probably significant underestimates. Here is a regime that consolidated its power in the 1980s by butchering leftists helped, it should be noted, by both MI6 and the CIA, who supplied them with lists of alleged Soviet agents."

"Today, trade union activists are arrested and tortured, while women's activists languish in jails. The economic disaster resulting from sanctions may have helped spark these latest protests, but millions of Iranians are fed up with living under fundamentalist rule underlined by surveys confirming growing religious non-observance and opposition to the compulsory hijab. But those who believe freedom will arrive on the back of western bombs seem incapable of learning from the catastrophes that have defined this century."

"Donald Trump continues to threaten to bomb Iran, egged on by Reza Pahlavi, son of the late deposed shah. The one advantage of Trump is that unlike his predecessors he generally does not pretend to champion noble ideas. He incited an attempted coup against his own democracy, and after recently attacking Venezuela, made clear that oil was his primary concern."

Internet shutdowns have made independent verification difficult, but Human Rights Activists in Iran confirmed at least 544 deaths and over 10,000 arrests, likely underestimates. The regime consolidated power in the 1980s by killing leftists, assisted by MI6 and the CIA supplying lists of alleged Soviet agents. Trade unionists and women's rights activists face arrest, torture, and imprisonment. Sanctions-driven economic collapse may have helped trigger protests, amplified by growing religious non-observance and opposition to compulsory hijab in surveys. Expecting liberation from western military intervention overlooks recent catastrophic outcomes. US actions, including threats to bomb Iran, the killing of Qassem Suleimani, and attacks on nuclear sites, often prioritized strategic interests over Iranian welfare.

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