Iran is indeed “looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before,” as President Donald Trump posted Saturday; if he means his next words — “The USA stands ready to help!!!” — then he needs to act fast, before it’s too late.
With mass protests across the country now in their third week and evidently growing even though the authorities’ response has turned lethal, hopes for ousting Iran’s oppressors have soared.
The ruling elite is talking tough about responding if Trump does intervene, but their ability to do so is far more limited than they pretend: Tehran had no meaningful response when US and Israeli forces took out the ayatollahs’ precious nuclear-weapons program last year, and their overseas puppets (Hamas, Hezbollah, etc.) are in even worse shape now than they were then.
Washington’s weekend strikes against ISIS in Syria showed that US forces have plenty of firepower in the region; word that the Pentagon is preparing plans to make good on Trump’s threats was fresh warning to Iran’s embattled rules.
But the death toll is starting to mount; estimates had the total so far near 500 protesters on Sunday, with 10,000 arrested (and unlikely to ever see the light of day: That’s how the regime rolls).
Including his repost of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s warning that Tehran’s “brutality” against its own people “will not go unchallenged,” the president has now vowed to succor the resistance at least three times.
Already, the regime is unsure if the security forces will obey orders for all-out massacres.
It has brought in Arab forces (Iraqi militias, Hezbollah gunmen and so on) to help with that filthy work — but must worry about how that could play out: Using foreigners to slaughter unarmed civilians might invite a military coup against the Islamist clique.
Uncertainty over how Trump might carry out his threats has likely already made the regime hesitate against the demonstrators.
One hard push can push the insiders into full panic and send “Supreme Ruler” Ali Khamenei fleeing to Moscow: It’s time for concrete US action — say, taking out two or three top leaders, perhaps along with cyberattacks against the Revolutionary Guard and other regime mainstays.
Nothing’s guaranteed, but fortune favors the bold, Mr. President: Don’t just “stand ready” — help Iran’s forces of freedom now.
