You’re absolutely right that I have mixed feelings and am conflicted, I would love to say with 100% confidence that “Iran is different” but I can’t.
Part of the protestors anger is impoverishment caused by sanctions, it was certainly a big factor in this protest and at least a minor factor in every other protest.
But conversely these protests are also fueled by discontent with the treatment of women.
They’re also fueled by the thirsty people who are suffering from poor water management policies that ignored traditional irrigation methods in favor of the western approach of spraying huge amounts into the air to grow water hungry crops in a famously water scarce region. Fuck even Israel was egging on the protestors with the promise of sending water experts once the regime is gone.
I’m not supporting America invading but I do think that there are real humanitarian issues that need to be addressed.
What upsets me most is not that the rest of the world is silent and only “brave and compassionate” America is speaking against them, its that the Iranian people only have America to turn to, that the only countries that are “on their side” (from the view of the public) are America and Israel.
This regime is so quick to label any unrest in the country as foreign meddling but they themselves are the cause for half of the problems.
Believe me, I’m a communist, there’s nothing I wish more for Iran than a secular socialist government, land reform, LGBTQ and women’s rights, economic equality… Unfortunately, the west destroyed their most recent chance at this with the total sanctioning and military intervention against Mosaddeq, because British Petroleum’s interests in the region were more important than the lives of Iranians. CIA paying mafias to perform protests against the government, MI6 paying actors to destroy private property and pretend they were communists, military blockade of petroleum exports… The whole suite.
This is why I reject so much further western meddling. If Iran is to have a socialist government, it will be by itself without meddling, and the point of focus from the west should be, IMO, preventing sanctions and military action against the Iranian people. However bad the Iranian government is currently, the only alternative for now from what I see is ISIS or Israel, and neither is better, it’s the sad truth of geopolitics.
You’re absolutely right that I have mixed feelings and am conflicted, I would love to say with 100% confidence that “Iran is different” but I can’t.
Part of the protestors anger is impoverishment caused by sanctions, it was certainly a big factor in this protest and at least a minor factor in every other protest.
But conversely these protests are also fueled by discontent with the treatment of women.
They’re also fueled by the thirsty people who are suffering from poor water management policies that ignored traditional irrigation methods in favor of the western approach of spraying huge amounts into the air to grow water hungry crops in a famously water scarce region. Fuck even Israel was egging on the protestors with the promise of sending water experts once the regime is gone.
I’m not supporting America invading but I do think that there are real humanitarian issues that need to be addressed.
What upsets me most is not that the rest of the world is silent and only “brave and compassionate” America is speaking against them, its that the Iranian people only have America to turn to, that the only countries that are “on their side” (from the view of the public) are America and Israel.
This regime is so quick to label any unrest in the country as foreign meddling but they themselves are the cause for half of the problems.
(also thank you for engaging me in good faith)
Believe me, I’m a communist, there’s nothing I wish more for Iran than a secular socialist government, land reform, LGBTQ and women’s rights, economic equality… Unfortunately, the west destroyed their most recent chance at this with the total sanctioning and military intervention against Mosaddeq, because British Petroleum’s interests in the region were more important than the lives of Iranians. CIA paying mafias to perform protests against the government, MI6 paying actors to destroy private property and pretend they were communists, military blockade of petroleum exports… The whole suite.
This is why I reject so much further western meddling. If Iran is to have a socialist government, it will be by itself without meddling, and the point of focus from the west should be, IMO, preventing sanctions and military action against the Iranian people. However bad the Iranian government is currently, the only alternative for now from what I see is ISIS or Israel, and neither is better, it’s the sad truth of geopolitics.