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The people of Iran have risen up again, and we should call it what it is: a brave national revolt against a rotten, repressive regime. Observers like Douglas Murray have rightly pointed out on Life, Liberty & Levin that this is not mere unrest but a determined push by ordinary Iranians for dignity and freedom. The world must not look away while Tehran tries to smother its own people.
What began as an economic explosion over currency collapse and crushing inflation on December 28, 2025, immediately morphed into a nationwide demand for political change, with protesters from cities and small towns alike chanting for an end to theocratic rule. This movement is broad, secular in orientation, and driven by a generation fed up with clerical misrule and corruption that has hollowed out Iran. It is the largest uprising since 1979 and deserves the moral clarity of our support.
The response from the regime has been predictably brutal: mass arrests, live fire against crowds, and an unprecedented attempt to cut Iranians off from the world with a nationwide internet blackout to hide the regime’s crimes. Reports from multiple regions describe scenes of slaughter and scorched marketplaces as security forces used overwhelming violence to try to snuff out dissent. The Iranian leadership has once again shown that when its power is threatened, mercy is not part of the playbook.
Even with the blackout and censorship, evidence has mounted of horrific massacres and a death toll that continues to be contested and concealed, prompting calls inside and outside Iran for an independent inquiry into the true scale of the slaughter. Regimes that silence families and sequester the dead are regimes that fear accountability because they know what they have done. The international community must insist on transparency and justice for victims, not diplomatic whispering that lets murderers off the hook.
This moment exposes the moral bankruptcy of appeasement and the failure of timidity in Western capitals. While dictators double down on repression, too many global institutions and political elites wring their hands and prefer “stability” over liberty, treating human freedom as a negotiable commodity. America’s foreign policy should be guided by principle: stand with those who risk everything for freedom, and deny moral legitimacy to tyrants who butcher their own people.
Douglas Murray’s sober assessment — that these protests are distinct and driven by a a clear yearning for basic human rights — should shame the timid into action and remind conservatives why liberty matters beyond our borders. This is not about geopolitics alone; it is about recognizing kindred spirits who want the dignity to raise their children without the boot of clerical tyranny on their necks. We should lend them our voices, our pressure, and unambiguous moral support.
To the brave Iranians in the streets: your courage is the true face of resistance to Islamist despotism, and to Americans who cherish freedom, this should stir our conscience and our policies. The choice is simple: either we side with the brave people demanding liberty, or we side with the murderers who fear the light. Let history record where we stood.
