[judah]

Iran's government is an Islamic fundamentalist dictatorship. It has imprisoned and killed protestors[0], it hung over 700 political dissidents last year[1], it has imprisoned and executed people who have left Islam[2], it has beaten and imprisoned women who refused to wear hijab[3]. As for LGBT rights, Equaldex lists Iran 190th out of 197 nations[4]. Time Magazine reports[5] that some 30,000 people were killed in January for protesting the government.

Even the parent article reports first-hand that the Iranian regime is now labelling protesters as terrorists and calls for their arrests.

This, combined with the drought and economic collapse, has pushed the Iranian people towards revolt.

This is not the fault of Israel, America, Trump, Greenland, white people, or any other boogeyman. It's a feature of Iranian government, and the Iranian people want change.

[0]: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jan/27/i...

[1]: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/07/iran-horrifyi...

[2]: https://persecution.exmuslims.org/countries/iran/

[3]: https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/14/iran-new-hijab-law-adds-...

[4]: https://www.equaldex.com/region/iran

[5]: https://time.com/7357635/more-than-30000-killed-in-iran-say-...

[jmyeet]

To dismiss the impact of economic sanctions is at best intellectually dishonest. Economic sanctions aren't a natural disaster. Somebody is imposing them. Who, exactly? And why?

Also, US allies (ie Israel) can kill hundreds of thousands of people without any consequences. In fact, we bankroll the weapons they use to do it to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.

So why are the documented atrocities of one country not an issue at all but the transgressions of another country worthy of starving that country for decades? What's different between these two? And who is making that determination?

[HDThoreaun]

Iran has no one to blame for the sanctions but themselves. The conditions to drop them have been clear, they have refused. Fine, but you dont get to then turn around and blame the sanctioning countries for the situation you put yourself in.

[Hikikomori]

Remind me why they are in power again.

[s_m_r]

Short answer: because of Islam ([Shia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia_Islam), specifically).

More detail: most people were uneducated and mostly Muslim, so [Khomeini](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhollah_Khomeini) used this to provoke people against [Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (king of Iran)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi).

A few years before Khomeini came to power, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi implemented the [White Revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Revolution) to modernize Iran (including granting women the vote, land reform, etc.). Khomeini opposed these reforms and considered them contrary to Islam. Eventually, with support from some [communist parties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudeh_Party_of_Iran) and promises of free buses, electricity, and similar benefits to peoples (like what Zohran Mamdani did), the king was overthrown and Khomeini took control.

Interestingly, Khomeini subsequently suppressed and eliminated the communist parties, seized factories and homes of those who opposed the Islamic Republic, and labeled many opponents as terrorists and enemies of Islam.

To understand what Khomeini and the Islamic Republic enacted: - Chess was banned for a period as being against Islam. - Sexual relations with children were publicly condoned by Khomeini in his writings. - ...

[squillion]

The Iranian government is responsible of all sorts of human rights violations, and also for the drought (at least partly), but the economic collapse was triggered by the US.

Bessent said so at Davos:

"President Trump ordered our Treasury and our OFAC division (Office of Foreign Asset Control) to put maximum pressure on Iran. And it's worked, because in December, their economy collapsed. [...] So this is why people took to the street. This is economic statecraft". https://youtu.be/VQQXLnXlWqY?t=1722

Is this how America helps dissidents? Make them so miserable they can't bear it anymore? Anyways, it never works. It just makes civilians more miserable and the government more repressive. Look at Cuba or North Korea.

[judah]

Yes, I concede the US is partly responsible for Iran's economic collapse. What a wonderful outcome should it result in the Ayatollahs losing their grip on power.