Vivian Bercovici: Iranian regime's survival now depends on milquetoast leaders

National Post

27-06-2025

'Death to America' has been the defining chant of the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1979, when radical Shi'ite clerics overthrew the ruling Pahlavi monarchy.
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'Death to Israel' has always been the companion slogan.
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For more than 50 years, the Pahlavi dynasty had ruled Iran with increasing ruthlessness. The poor, religious Iranians struggling in the teeming slums, seethed. They saw the Shah and his family as being decadent infidels defiling and degrading Iran and Islam.
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In a recent interview, Beni Sabti, a Tehran-born expert who now resides in Israel, recalled the pro-revolutionary fervour that swept Iran in the early years of the Ayatollahs' rule. Beni was Jewish, and he and his family were constantly threatened and harassed. In 1987, when he was 15, the family escaped on a treacherous journey guided by smugglers.
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Approximately 15,000 Jews remain in Iran and reports are trickling out that some are being arrested and harassed by the military, particularly in Shiraz and Tehran. Their phones and homes are being searched for any indication of communication with people in Israel. Almost all likely have close family who escaped to Israel or elsewhere since 1979. Such contact could mean death.
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As we are going to press, a report just came in that the regime has arrested up to 700 Jews in the country for alleged ties to Israel. Ceremonies have been organized in which Jewish leaders and others in attendance pledged allegiance and support to Iran.
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The regime has shut down internet access for approximately two weeks now, and a vicious clampdown appears to be ongoing, targeting more vulnerable minorities — like the Kurds in the north — and Jews in the cities. Everyone gets the message. Head down. Shut up.
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Today, 80 per cent or more of Iranians loathe the ruling theocracy. And whereas the opposition factions in the Iranian diaspora may have their differences, there is a broad consensus that the religious regime must be toppled.
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The overwhelming majority of Iranians want the brutal repression to end. They want a life where they can work, achieve, think and express themselves freely, dress as they please, become citizens integrated with other nations and people without fear of extreme reprisal. But freedom, of course, is the ultimate threat to a totalitarian state.
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Beginning on June 13, continued waves of Israeli air force attacks deep inside the country shattered the nuclear aspirations of Iran. For days, the skies of Iran were dominated by Israeli and American air forces. All Middle Eastern countries — including Syria — allowed Israeli fighter jets to access their airspace. To attack Iran. Why? Because Saudi, Bahrain, Oman, Syria, UAE — they all loathe the fanatical Iranian regime as much as does Israel.