Women, life and freedom for post Mullah Iran!
Matein Khalid
There is precious little good news to emerge from the Middle East since the IDF launched its spectacular blitzkrieg and leadership decapitation strike against Iran's nuclear asset and military/intelligence elite last Friday. This weekend was grim with Iran's ballistic missile strike on Haifa and Tel Aviv with even a real miss on the IDF command and control complex in Kirya. Netanyahu's boast that he would order IDF warplanes to destroy 100 buildings in Iran for every building destroyed by an Iranian missile in Israel also suggested a protracted, bloody conflict. Yet Brent has plunged to 71.80 as I write with Nasdaq up 300 points on diplomatic signals that Iran wants to join Trump's call for immediate peace deal talk under his aegis.
It is also significant that Iran has dare not retaliate against US forces in the Gulf or Iraq. Since the IDF and Mossad destroyed Hezbollah in Lebanon last autumn and a Turkish backed insurgency overthrew its 54-year old Baathist dynastic vassal state in Syria last December, the Ayatollah's 'axis of resistance' in the Levant no longer restrains Israel military strike, as Operation Rising Lion suggests. In fact, the lion and sun were the ancient symbols of Iran's Zoroastrian imperial past and even adorned the flag of the last Pahlavi Shah. I wonder if Bibi wants to anoint Prince Reza Cyrus Pahlavi as the next Shah of Iran.
ADVERTISEMENT
For Reza's sake, I hope he stays in Washington and does not allow himself to be used by this cynical Israeli megalomaniac. His life is too precious to his wife and daughters as well as his mother Empress Farah, who has faced so much tragedy in her life with the loss of her husband, younger son Ali Reza and daughter Laila. Prince Reza Cyrus should also remember the fate of Bachir Gemayel, whom another nutcase Israeli Prime Minister (Begin) had anointed President of Lebanon in 1982 after the IDF's Operation Peace for Galilee, which ensured no peace for either Israel or Lebanon, midwifed the rise of Hezbollah and claimed 20,000 civilian lives in siege of Beirut.
Even though the IDF has scored yet another military and intelligence coup against Iran, I doubt if Netanyahu's call for a popular revolt will happen, let alone succeed. After all, the Ayatollah regime has massacred tens of thousands of young Iranian lives in the periodic revolts against the Islamic Republic that have occurred from the very first months of its existence in 1979.
It was surreal to see Bibi speaking the Persian words zan, zindagi, azadi (women, life, freedom). Anybody with a remotely humane moral compass wishes the beautiful Iranian people liberation from this evil and nightmarish mullah regime that has strangled Iran since 1979. Whatever happens, there is no doubt that June 2025 will join February 1979, August 1990, March 2003 and October 2023 as one of the decisive hinge months of Middle East history. That much, at least, is certain!
Also published on Medium.
Notice an issue? Arabian Post strives to deliver the most accurate and reliable information to its readers. If you believe you have identified an error or inconsistency in this article, please don't hesitate to contact our editorial team at editor[at]thearabianpost[dot]com. We are committed to promptly addressing any concerns and ensuring the highest level of journalistic integrity.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
33 minutes ago
- Khaleej Times
WhatsApp 'concerned' services to be blocked after Iran calls to delete app
WhatsApp said it was "concerned" that its services would be blocked in Iran after a state broadcaster urged the public to delete the messaging app, saying it was sharing data with arch-rival Israel. State television IRIB appealed to Iranians on Tuesday to delete WhatsApp from their phones, alleging that the app collected users' personal data and "last known locations and communications," and shared them with Israel. On Wednesday, Israel and Iran exchanged fire for the sixth straight day, with Israel saying it struck a nuclear site near Tehran. A WhatsApp spokesperson dismissed the IRIB claims, saying all messages sent on the app were "end-to-end encrypted," with only the sender and recipient able to access them. "We're concerned these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most," the spokesperson told AFP. "We do not track your precise location, we don't keep logs of who everyone is messaging and we do not track the personal messages people are sending one another," they said. WhatsApp also does not "provide bulk information to any government". Israel launched a massive bombing campaign against Iran on Friday that has hit nuclear and military facilities, as well as residential areas. Iran has responded by launching missiles and drones, and early on Wednesday said it had fired hypersonic missiles at Israel. Tehran announced on Friday that it was placing temporary restrictions on the Internet for the duration of the conflict. Numerous sites and apps have since been at least partially inaccessible. The authorities appealed to the public on Tuesday to "minimise their use of equipment connected to the internet and to take appropriate precautions" online. For their own safety, civil servants and their security teams have been banned from using any connected devices, including smartphones, watches and laptops during the Israeli air offensive. In the wake of nationwide protests triggered by the 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, Iranian authorities had blocked several apps and online services, including WhatsApp.
Khaleej Times
33 minutes ago
- Khaleej Times
Israel-Iran conflict: UAE President, Putin express 'deep concern' over ongoing escalation
[Editor's Note: Follow the KT live blog for live updates on the Israel-Iran conflict.] The leaders of Russia and the UAE on Wednesday warned of "extremely negative consequences" from the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict , as President Vladimir Putin pushed himself as a possible mediator. In a phone call with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Putin "confirmed Russia's readiness to provide mediation assistance to promote dialogue between the parties to the conflict," the Kremlin said in a statement. The two leaders "expressed deep concern over the continuing escalation of the Iranian-Israeli conflict, which could have extremely negative consequences for the entire region," Moscow added. Israel launched a massive bombing campaign on Friday that prompted Iran to respond with its own missile and drone strikes. Russia is close to Iran, having boosted military ties amid its offensive on Ukraine. But Moscow also strives for good relations with Israel. Putin has held phone calls Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian offering his role as a peacemaker.
Gulf Today
an hour ago
- Gulf Today
Airports close across Mideast as the Israel-Iran conflict shutters the region's airspace
After Israeli strikes landed near the hotel where he was staying in the Iranian province of Qom, Aimal Hussein desperately wanted to return home. But the 55-year-old Afghan businessman couldn't find a way, with Iranian airspace completely shut down. He fled to Tehran after the strike on Sunday, but no taxi would take him to the border as the conflict between Iran and Israel intensified. "Flights, markets, everything is closed, and I am living in the basement of a small hotel," Hussein told The Associated Press by cellphone on Monday. "I am trying to get to the border by taxi, but they are hard to find, and no one is taking us." Israel launched a major attack Friday with strikes in the Iranian capital of Tehran and elsewhere, killing senior military officials, nuclear scientists, and destroying critical infrastructure. Among the targets was a nuclear enrichment facility about 18 miles from Qom. Iran has retaliated with hundreds of drones and missiles. The dayslong attacks between the two bitter enemies have opened a new chapter in their turbulent recent history. Many in the region fear a wider conflict as they watch waves of attacks across their skies every night. The conflict has forced most countries in the Middle East to close their airspace. Dozens of airports have stopped all flights or severely reduced operations, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded and others unable to flee the conflict or travel home. "The domino effect here is massive," said retired pilot and aviation safety expert John Cox, who said the disruptions will have a huge price tag. "You've got thousands of passengers suddenly that are not where they're supposed to be, crews that are not where they are supposed to be, airplanes that are not where they're supposed to be," he said. Zvika Berg was on an El Al flight to Israel from New York when an unexpected message came from the pilot as they began their descent: "Sorry, we've been rerouted to Larnaca." The 50-year-old Berg saw other Israel-bound El Al flights from Berlin and elsewhere landing at the airport in Cyprus. Now he's waiting at a Larnaca hotel while speaking to his wife in Jerusalem. "I'm debating what to do," Berg said. Israel has closed its main international Ben Gurion Airport "until further notice," leaving more than 50,000 Israeli travelers stranded abroad. The jets of the country's three airlines have been moved to Larnaca. In Israel, Mahla Finkleman was stuck in a Tel Aviv hotel after her Air Canada flight was canceled, trying to reassure her worried family back home while she shelters in the hotel's underground bunker during waves of overnight Iranian attacks. "We hear the booms. Sometimes there's shaking," she said. "The truth, I think it's even scarier … to see from TV what happened above our heads while we were underneath in a bomb shelter." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office warned Israelis not to flee the country through any of the three crossings with Jordan and Egypt that are open to the Israeli public. Despite having diplomatic ties with Israel, the statement said those countries are considered a "high risk of threat" to Israeli travelers. Iran on Friday suspended flights to and from the country's main Khomeini International Airport on the outskirts of Tehran. Israel said Saturday that it bombed Mehrabad Airport in an early attack, a facility in Tehran for Iran's air force and domestic commercial flights. Arsalan Ahmed is one of thousands of Indian university students stuck in Iran, with no way out. The medical student and other students in Tehran are not leaving the hostels where they live, horrified by the attacks with no idea of when they'll find safety. "It is very scary what we watch on television," Ahmed said. "But scarier are some of the deafening explosions." Universities have helped relocate many students to safer places in Iran, but the Indian government has not yet issued an evacuation plan for them. Associated Press
