The Middle East

[Eunos_Cosmo]

The collapse of the Islamic Republic seems entirely plausible at this point. The protestors are not letting up and the government is looking increasingly illegitimate. Allegedly, although the sources are not known for credibility, Iranian officials are attempting to get British passports. At least one British MP appears to corroborate it, though I'm not sure how credible he is either.

Iran’s Hard-Liners Are Starting to Crack

 

[Blitz24]

The collapse of the Islamic Republic seems entirely plausible at this point. The protestors are not letting up and the government is looking increasingly illegitimate. Allegedly, although the sources are not known for credibility, Iranian officials are attempting to get British passports. At least one British MP appears to corroborate it, though I'm not sure how credible he is either.

Iran’s Hard-Liners Are Starting to Crack

Why the UK? Why not China or Russia, where they might be able to be protected?

 

[Touring Mars]

Why the UK? Why not China or Russia, where they might be able to be protected?

Without wishing to state the obvious, China and Russia are totalitarian hell zones where the regimes in charge are literally engaged in genocide as we speak and think nothing of murdering anyone who speaks out against them, which is exactly what the Iran protests are about too.

The UK might have a bunch of incompetents in charge at the moment, but it is literally nothing like these places and the Iranians know it. They also know that the US is a safe haven for them too, and rightly so... and I know that from personal experience too.

 

[Blitz24]

Without wishing to state the obvious, China and Russia are totalitarian hell zones where the regimes in charge are literally engaged in genocide as we speak and think nothing of murdering anyone who speaks out against them, which is exactly what the Iran protests are about too.

The UK might have a bunch of incompetents in charge at the moment, but it is literally nothing like these places and the Iranians know it. They also know that the US is a safe haven for them too, and rightly so... and I know that from personal experience too.

I would be both surprised and not surprised that the US would protect the current Iranian regime.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Why the UK? Why not China or Russia, where they might be able to be protected?

The simple answer is that they would greatly prefer western nations, particularly if they know that might not be an option in the future. The great hypocrisy is that many members of the Iranian government have family outside of the country (in the West) because they know better than most the condition of Iran. Many of them are western-educated too - Rouhani studied in Scotland, Zarif studied in San Francisco, Denver, and Columbia. The entire ruling class of Iran are self interested and power/money-hungry hypocrites rather than genuine Islamists - not materially different than Russian Oligarchs populating various penthouses in London or yachts in Nice.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I think this is a direct result of the continued pressure from the diaspora protests. This is a pretty big deal.

U.N. rights council votes to probe Iran's ongoing crackdown​

 

[Blitz24]

I think this is a direct result of the continued pressure from the diaspora protests. This is a pretty big deal.

U.N. rights council votes to probe Iran's ongoing crackdown​

In theory it's a big deal. In practice? It is not because the UN has no teeth.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Contrary to western reporting, it does not appear that the morality police have actually been disbanded. However, and this is not necessarily indicative of what is happening everywhere in the country*, it's plainly obvious that the hijab has been effectively discarded by many Iranian women - hard to believe most of this footage is actually from Tehran, a stark contrast from even a year ago. I think the revolution is happening as a gradual dissolution of the authority of the Mullahs.



Elsewhere, a 3-day nationwide strike is ongoing and I'm told it is very widespread.

*Wealthier areas are the most progressive, but there are similar videos of far more conservative parts of Tehran and even there the amount of women without Hijabs is surprisingly high.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Who had Iran vs....Pakistan??...on their 2024 bingo card?

The middle east seems more chaotic than ever and its hard to even say who is with who at any given time.

 

[Blitz24]

Iran trying to start a war on two fronts is probably NOT the most intelligent move when it comes to strategy.

 

[Keef]

Who had Iran vs....Pakistan??...on their 2024 bingo card?

The middle east seems more chaotic than ever and its hard to even say who is with who at any given time.

Iran trying to start a war on two fronts is probably NOT the most intelligent move when it comes to strategy.

In this case it seems both Iran and Pakistan where attacking these people [and their militia] who live throughout the region but make up a very small percentage of population in several countries. So while it seems Iran and Pakistan are blaming each other, their goals appear to be similar. I smell a cross-border genocide of Baloch people brewing.

 

[Touring Mars]

Helicopter carrying Iran president Ebrahim Raisi in crash - reports - BBC News

Search and rescue teams are still trying to reach the site due to the difficult weather conditions, officials say.

www.bbc.co.uk

Potentially significant news - and yet I can't help but think of George Carlin for some reason...

"Hard Landing.... CRASHED INTO A MOUNTAIN!!"

 

[Blitz24]

Social media reports (Ahmadinajad one of them) have sent messages that the president is now deceased. Obviously unconfirmed.

 

[Famine]

 

[Liquid]

Helicopter carrying Iran president Ebrahim Raisi in crash - reports - BBC News

Search and rescue teams are still trying to reach the site due to the difficult weather conditions, officials say.

www.bbc.co.uk

Potentially significant news - and yet I can't help but think of George Carlin for some reason...

"Hard Landing.... CRASHED INTO A MOUNTAIN!!"

They call it a near miss? That's a near hit! Look at that helicopter wreckage, it nearly missed the mountain.

/paraphrase

 

[Blitz24]

They call it a near miss? That's a near hit! Look at that helicopter wreckage, it nearly missed the mountain.

/paraphrase

Could have been worse. Could have managed to fly up and never land. I hear it is possible but I've never seen it.

 

[Tornado]

I'm confused what did the President of Iran do to upset Putin?

 

[Blitz24]

I'm confused what did the President of Iran do to upset Putin?

Didn't stand near a window.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Raisi really should not have accepted that QA/QC job for Boeing.

 

[Carbonox]

Was he wearing his hijab correctly?

 

[Dennisch]

Media outlet reports it:

 

[Imari]

Did they just Franz Ferdinand a dude?

Seriously, the remake culture is getting out of hand. Write some goddamn new storylines.

 

[Aaronhuang]

Who had Iran vs....Pakistan??...on their 2024 bingo card?

The middle east seems more chaotic than ever and its hard to even say who is with who at any given time.

They're all against each other except when it comes to Israel. Iran is a Shiite country with a 5-10% Sunni population mostly near the east so it's inevitable Pakistan-a Sunni country- would want to assist the Sunni militants living in Iran.

 

[Liquid]

Everyone hates Iran. Israel just happens to be a common enemy.

 

[Keef]

Media outlet reports it:

I'm going to assume this is another Ho Lee Fuk incident.

 

[Blitz24]

I'm going to assume this is another Ho Lee Fuk incident.

Correct. "Elicopter" is the Hebrew pronunciation of helicopter.

 

[Aaronhuang]

Everyone hates Iran. Israel just happens to be a common enemy.

Yeah, almost all the Muslim-dominant countries despise Israel, but if Israel wasn't there they would be fighting amongst themselves anyways.

 

[HenrySwanson]

@Scaff, @Eunos_Cosmo, @UKMikey:

Do people of that region not have any agency? Pre-1953: what about the creation of Israel and the hostility to it? Is it mostly the West's fault again?

You understand how it comes across a tad weird to place the blame squarely on the West....
Since ISIS has committed so many atrocities across the world, and you "can almost promise you that ISIS, Al-Queda, and Hezbollah would have never existed without the Coup", victims and their relatives should direct their ire more towards the West instead of Islamic extremists/Islam?

What about Manchester Arena's Abedi's family history with the LIFG....We created him too if we trace it back far enough?

And surely we can acknowledge the benefits of Western intervention like European pressure helping create reforms that gave non-Muslims more rights in the Ottoman Empire as well as criticising the West for their part in the carnage we're seeing now.

EDIT:

You have to remember, growing up where I did exposes you to a lot of the good and a lot of the bad.

One white kid called my Malaysian friend a *****.
Some of my classmates danced in the playground on 9/11 and laughed at the liquidation of the ghetto scene in Schindler's List that we had to watch in History class.

Do we call them both *****, or do we say the white kid is, but the others are only ***** because of the history of Western interference in their countries/Middle East....

 

[TexRex]

lol. Love to see a thread that's been inactive for months be bumped with a bitchfit moved from another thread with no context whatsoever so anyone who didn't see it previously hasn't the faintest clue what's going on.

 

[Scaff]

@Scaff, @Eunos_Cosmo, @UKMikey:

Do people of that region not have any agency? Pre-1953:

Any they have was to a large degree interfered with by the west.

what about the creation of Israel and the hostility to it? Is it mostly the West's fault again?

That would be a yes.

You understand how it comes across a tad weird to place the blame squarely on the West....

No I really don't. Who strong-armed the creation of the state in the region? Who has funded and supported it militarily since its inception? Who allowed it to develop a nuclear arsenal illegally? Who has intervened repeatedly in the region (politically, economically, and militarily) frequently leaving massive power vacuums?

Since ISIS has committed so many atrocities across the world, and you "can almost promise you that ISIS, Al-Queda, and Hezbollah would have never existed without the Coup", victims and their relatives should direct their ire more towards the West instead of Islamic extremists/Islam?

What about Manchester Arena's Abedi's family history with the LIFG....We created him too if we trace it back far enough?

And surely we can acknowledge the benefits of Western intervention like European pressure helping create reforms that gave non-Muslims more rights in the Ottoman Empire as well as criticising the West for their part in the carnage we're seeing now.

No one said it wasn't a two-way thing, but it's certainly not an equitable balance is it?

EDIT:

You have to remember, growing up where I did exposes you to a lot of the good and a lot of the bad.

One white kid called my Malaysian friend a *****.
Some of my classmates danced in the playground on 9/11 and laughed at the liquidation of the ghetto scene in Schindler's List that we had to watch in History class.

Do we call them both *****, or do we say the white kid is, but the others are only ***** because of the history of Western interference in their countries/Middle East....

You do understand the difference between root cause and outcomes? It's perfectly possible to acknowledge the root cause of something while condemning the outcomes and actions of both sides that have resulted from said root cause. You also post as if that bigotry was in a single-direction, and you have to know that's nonsense, or did 9/11 not result in a massive upswing in attacks (some resulting in deaths) of anyone who looked Middle-Eastern?