"Despite the authorities cutting off communications and destroying evidence, it is clear that a regime never reluctant to shed its citizens' blood has done so with unprecedented zeal, sensing an unprecedented threat from unrest across the country, challenging not only its policies but its very existence. Officials have reported 3,000 deaths, but human rights groups have tallied many more, and a network of medical professionals has estimated that 30,000 could have been killed."
"Alongside the fury at this vengeful regime is anger at another leader: Donald Trump, who urged Iranians to keep protesting and promised them that help is on its way then played down the slaughter. Now the US president has warned via social media that a massive Armada is heading to Iran, and that the next attack will be far worse than Operation Midnight Hammer, the US strike on nuclear sites last summer."
"Mr Trump is notoriously unpredictable: in his first term, he called off an attack on Iran 10 minutes before it happened. But his newfound interventionism has wrenched the spotlight from the Epstein files, and Iran threats distract from Immigration and Customs Enforcement brutality at home and his climbdown over Greenland. Iran is a far more popular target than Denmark among his base."
The crackdown on protesters has been extraordinarily brutal, with authorities cutting off communications, destroying evidence and deploying security forces that shot people as they fled a fire. Official death tolls are reported at 3,000, human rights groups report higher figures, and a medical network estimates up to 30,000 deaths. Doctors are being arrested for treating the wounded. The US president publicly encouraged protests, promised support, and later threatened military action, claiming a massive armada and a follow-up strike worse than Operation Midnight Hammer. Iran's weakened state and muted response have emboldened external threats. Military intervention would risk huge human costs and would not guarantee democracy.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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