Iran is burning. The Islamic regime is divided. Yet, the mainstream media is near silent.In order to understand the situation with the uprising in Iran, we must go back to 1979 when the Islamic Republic replaced the imperial family and overthrew the monarchy; a revolution lead by the Soviet backed communists and stolen by the Muslim occupiers. Coincidentally, Iran has seen huge movements every ten years since then.Towards the end of the 1980s, Iran’s socialist militants – Mujahedeens – started a mini civil war but were crushed by the regime. This was due to lack of backing from the general population. Iranians were against the Islamists but at the same time, refused to follow the divisive socialist movement.In 1999, following the closing of a pro free speech newspaper, students and the younger generation caused an earthquake of nationwide protests. The bloody revolt was destroyed due to lack of unity and leadership from the anti-regime side.Ten years later in 2009, the regime stole the presidential election, which gave birth to the Green Movement. This was a democratic liberal movement that saw various protests for a year or so. The outcome was inevitably death for the rebellion. This was due to the cause of the movement. Iranians were not united; some wanted to overturn the result of the election and the rest wanted to bring down the Supreme Leader.Unsuccessful and divided rebellions has been the trend so far, until 2019. The cost of living crisis combined with state corruption finally brought out people from all backgrounds and ages. The poor and rich started fighting alongside each other. Covid lockdown slowed things down, but that simply provided complacency for the state. They assumed the rebellion was crushed again, however they were wrong.Last week, a 22 year old woman named Mahsa Amini was arrested for not wearing a hijab and taken into custody by the Guidance Patrol, also known as Iran’s ‘morality police’. Eyewitnesses saw her being beaten and abused and eventually she tragically died. This is an event that unfortunately occurs on a regular basis in Iran. However, this one sparked a new uprising. The organic rebellion was patiently waiting for their moment, and the new martyr provided that. It has now been over a week since the nationwide uprising started to burn the country, and this time the mood is different.Not only are almost all towns and cities seeing protests, but the people seem to have lost the element of fear. They no longer run away from the security forces. A number of cities have been fully occupied by the freedom fighters as the regime guard escape. Women have been burning their hijabs and cutting off their hair and hundreds have been arrested as the death toll rises. But the most important difference between this uprising compared to previous movements is the fact that there seems to be basic unity behind one message: remove the Islamist occupiers, bring back the royal family, and introduce a democratic constitutional monarchy.
People across the globe have demonstrated their support for this uprising, with protestors in the UK and Paris opposing the Iranian regime outside the Iranian embassy’s, chanting “death to the Islamic Republic”. The support for this revolution is clear, but the weight of what is happening in Iran is not quite so recognised. This is mainly due to Iran shutting down the internet in parts of the country and blocking access to social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. The media is not only necessary for the Iranian people to show what is happening in their country, but the they need to be able to communicate to further their chances of success.There is no appetite for foreign intervention but there is a need for international media to give a voice to their revolution. Only time will tell if this passionate rebellion will succeed or not.
