On December 28th, 2025, the Iranian people took to the streets in the name of freedom and dignity. Over the course of a week, the protest spiraled into a revolution, and the Iranian regime responded with violence and suppression, killing AT LEAST 538 civilians. The real count is suspected to be A LOT MORE. In response, the United States, France, and many other nations have further condemned Iran. The United States has also called for an emergency UN meeting scheduled on January 15th, in which most representatives of nations either condemned and/or called for peace, but little substance was discussed, all while President Trump and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are debating using force to help end the slaughter(This is all is also quite rich coming from a man who, 7 months ago, was at war with Iran). Regardless of Trump’s hypocrisy, if America does get involved, it will stop the senseless slaughter of innocent people, and that’s good, but not for the Iranian government, for they are stuck. Either they continue their brutal treatment of the protesters and risk MORE reprisals from Trump, whose patience is waning, or keep letting the protest spread and probably get overthrown. You might ask, ‘can’t they just try and calm the protest peacefully, or even give in to their demands?’ But peaceful reconciliation is not in the Iranian government’s dictionary. Think that’s a joke? It’s not. Even in the face of this overwhelming pressure, the senile Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, still vows to crack down on all the “rioters.” He and his puppet president, Masoud Pezeshkian, have both claimed that all the protests were actually organized by America and Israel in a covert plot by the CIA and Mossad. His government has completely cut all power lines in the nation to make sure the protesters can’t coordinate via the internet and ordered the Islamic Revolutionary Guard to shoot protesters. They are also threatening public execution and bodies bags lie in the street …. Yeah, that’s a lot of dark stuff but even in the face of all of this, the Iranians have yet to stay silent and so have the Iranian diaspora with exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, regnal name Reza the second (son of the man who was overthrown in the last revolution 46 years ago), has called continued defiance in the name of democracy.

WHY DID IRAN GO UP IN FLAMES?

Simply put, Iran is in shambles. Their currency collapsed to the point where no one except the ludicrously rich could buy anything, and markets and grocery stores became ghost towns. This economic collapse came at the worst possible time, as the people of Iran were already on edge 

because the government failed to protect its allies across the Middle East. Hezbollah in Lebanon was almost completely neutralized by Israel, and Hamas in Palestine was almost eliminated. Assadist Syria disintegrated. But the loss of allies is one thing. In June 2025, Iran itself lost a war against Israel and the United States, and when I say they lost, I mean they LOST. During the war, Iran lost control of its own airspace, resulting in the capital, Tehran, being under frequent attack. Simultaneously, America and Israel bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities so badly that their nuclear program got sent back DECADES. With all of this, it should be no surprise that Iranians are tired of their authoritarian, backward, incompetent government.

Unfortunately, it seems that the Islamic Republic will survive these protests, but it’s impossible to draw a true conclusion. However, it is worth noting that even if the Islamic Republic survives this Revolution (which, as of January 16th) it looks like it will still be in the weakest state in its history. As long as these underlying problems stay in place, the Iranian people will not sit still,  as no amount of violence, repression, or propaganda can contain Man’s everlasting desire for freedom and reform.