As a wave of protests swept across Iran last night, the internet was completely shut down. I have no idea what is happening to my friends, my family, or anyone else. My best friend Champ was at the demonstration. I desperately hope he is safe.
Iran is a nation wanting its soul back. Protesters burn the Islamic Republic flag and replace it with Iran’s real flag
Overnight, there were protests throughout Iran. From Qom and Mashhad, the most religious cities, to Rasht and Anzali, the most secular, people took to the streets. In Tehran, there were protests in the poorest parts to the richest parts of the city. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the huge crowd in Pol-e-Roomi, a neighbourhood in Tehran where prices are comparable to London.
One reason why so many took to the streets is Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi’s call to action for the first time. When he invited people to protest at 8pm on January 8 and 9, his message received 3.2 million likes and 88 million views – a historic record on Persian Instagram.
Why are the richest and poorest parts of Iran, the most religious and the most secular parts, revolting together? Because this revolution isn’t about the left or right. It is about people wanting to be a nation, rather than an ummah. We want to be citizens, not soldiers of a reactionary Islamist cause.
Iran is a nation wanting its soul back. Protesters burn the Islamic Republic flag and replace it with Iran’s real flag: the Lion and Sun. It is a nation reclaiming the soul of civility, not Islamic barbarism; patriotism, not IRGC internationalism. This is a national revolution to take back what was stolen from us by Islamists: our history, our culture, our way of life. This is the revolt of Persian culture against political Islam.
I hate to be a victim, and I hate victimhood politics as a Thatcherite, but I can’t stop crying when the Islamic Republic attacks hospitals in Ilam to arrest protesters in their beds, and the human-rights mob do not react. They only seem to worry about hospitals when Hamas stores ammunition in them. Normal Iranian citizens? They can’t be bothered. So far, 36 protesters have been killed in just ten days. Western activists don’t seem to care.
The Iranian protesters’ strategic mistake is that they want to be friends with the West. For this reason, the pro-Palestine mob is silent.
Donald Trump, at least, has spoken up. The US president has said the regime will be hit ‘very hard’ if it acts violently against protesters. As a result, demonstrators are changing the names of streets in Tehran to ‘Trump Street’. The Crown Prince has said he is ready to lead the transition to democracy. People chant: ‘This is the final battle – Pahlavi will return.’ It certainly feels like the end is near. No one can predict the exact date the regime’s leaders will leave my country, but it is obvious that it is a matter of time.
The Islamic Republic has used every tool of repression to prevent people from protesting. Since September 2022, dozens of children have been killed by the regime. Nika Shakarami, a 16-year-old, was tortured, raped, and then killed by the IRGC. Her final moments were spent resisting her attackers.
I wish Shakarami was alive so that she could hear the chants of ‘death to the dictator’ and ‘Akhoond bayad gom beshe’, which means ‘the mullahs should f–k off’. In a new Iran, those like Shakarami could live a normal life: wearing what they want, protesting without the risk of being raped by Islamist terrorists. I wish Shakarami, and all those who gave their lives fighting the terror state of the Islamic Republic, could see this day.
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