You remember Baghdad Bob? I think Iran has Tehran Tim.
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Sad situation. I am not sure there is the will from West countries to really do anything.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the defenders of Iran’s leadership, has been out on the streets in full force, deploying huge numbers from its paramilitary wing to snuff out dissent. According to people in Tehran, the IRGC and police have imposed something akin to martial law.
Now the streets where tens of thousands had thronged are empty by 9 p.m. and Sara is scared to go out alone for fear of the security forces who patrol them. Heavily armed police and paramilitaries stalk towns and cities across Iran, stopping cars at checkpoints to keep people away.
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With the protests subdued, Iranians are trying to adjust to an uneasy new normal enforced by the state and the scale of the violence it unleashed on its own citizens. In the brief windows of connectivity that pierce the internet blackout, the word that comes up again and again is hopelessness.
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The Iranian leadership projects an image of defiance. Its version of events is different, that the protests started as peaceful demonstrations by business owners but were then coopted by foreigners and “rioters and armed terrorists” working at the behest of Israel and the US.
It’s also unclear whether there’s any consensus among the population over what should happen next. Some are waiting for Trump.
“I’m trying to prepare in case of American military action,” said a young man from Tehran who works in IT. “Stacking some water and canned food isn’t hard and there’s not much more we can do. If the US does nothing, the cycle will continue.”
