Is Iran Cracking?

Two Iranian TV journalists have resigned in protest of the regime, one apologizing for having told "lies" on behalf of the mullahs for thirteen years.

Much of this is sparked by the revelation that it was Iran that shot down the Ukrainian airliner, after days of lies that it had simply crashed.

So: The Iranian media blames the mullahs for the downed aircraft, while the allegedly "American" media blames Trump.

At least two presenters working for the Iranian state broadcaster IRIB have announced they have quit their jobs, with a third saying she quit some time ago after having told lies on behalf of the state for 13 years.

Gelare Jabbari apologised in an Instagram post, writing: "It was very hard for me to believe that our people have been killed. Forgive me that I got to know this late. And forgive me for the 13 years I told you lies."

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The journalists; statements are part of a crisis of confidence following the initial attempts by state officials to deny that Ukrainian jetliner 752 had been shot down by mistake by members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) air defence force.

The crisis is leading even some of the news agencies most closely associated with the regime to start reporting on the street protests, or a least to start addressing the allegations about a potential state cover-up.

Here's one example of an Iranian journalist speaking out:

Speaking candidly on BBC Radio Today, Ghanbar Naderi, a commentator on Iran’s state-run Press TV, admitted: "There is little trust in the government and people want more freedom. The lies they said about the shooting down of the aeroplane [have] lost public trust. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps know it very well."

It's not just journalists who are speaking out. One of Iran's top actresses also condemned the regime, and Iran's only female Olympic medal-winner straight-up defected:

People are taking a lot of actions they would not take if they expected the regime to be in power in six months.

They're acting as if the regime is a short-term problem.

Here's a tweet from one of the journalists who resigned:

The regime seems as if it knows it has a limited time remaining:

As I have reported in the past, Iran faces a demographic crisis over the next two decades as its population ages rapidly. There are five prime-age Iranians supporting every Iranian over the age of 65, but by mid-century, the ratio will collapse to just 1.6 to one. Strangely, the Iranian authorities have reported an increase in the"“total fertility rate," namely the estimated number of children that the average woman will bear during her lifetime. The increase evidently is due to optimistic assumptions about the future rather than observed behavior in the present.

Iranians face desperate conditions, if not actual hunger, due to the effect of economic sanctions. Add to this the long-term effects of mismanagement of the country's scarce water resources. Afshin Shahi wrote recently in the Journal of Asian Affairs: "Approximately 97% of the country is experiencing drought conditions. Due to gross water mismanagement and its damaging impact on the country, Iran faces the worst situation in the water resources of any industrialized nation. Tens of thousands of villages have been deserted and most of the major urban centers have passed their limits to absorb new rural migrants. Some officials predict that in less than 25 years, 50 million Iranians would be displaced from their current homes because of the pressing ecological conditions."

Few countries have endured this level of deprivation outside of full war mobilization, and few have seen such a drastic decline in the number of births. The only modern comparison is Venezuela. Governments with a monopoly of economic resources and the willingness to kill significant numbers of their own citizens can stay in power for quite some time, but there seems no question that Iran's regime is fragile and prone to destabilization.

Protesters are out on the street, chanting "Soleimani is a murderer, his leader a traitor." By "his leader," they mean Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

Iran has painted US and Israeli flags in the street, so that people will step on them; which is, of course, an act of disrespect.

But protesters are breaking ranks to step around the US flag.

They also avoided stepping on Israel's flag!

Trump tweeted out support of the Iranian people, in Persian:

That immediately became the most "Liked" (as in, people clicked the "Like" button) Persian-language tweet in Twitter history.

As the Iranian people and Trump rise up to oppose the terrorist ayatollah, the Democrats, of course, step in, just as they did in 2009, to try to prop up the terrors state:

You know what might a reason for the protests? The fact that Iran murdered 1500 of its own citizens protesting the government just a couple of months ago.

But Democrats -- including their media wing -- continue conspiring with and colluding with this anti-American, murderous regime.

And the mourning continues:

Thanks to Tami for that!

posted by Ace at 03:50 PM

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