The World Holds Its Breath on Iran
The Iranian regime is orchestrating a massacre, crossing President Trump’s red line. The world now waits to see what he will do in response.
With the people of Iran now two weeks into staging protests, the bid to get the regime’s tyrannical foot off their necks seems to be within their grasp.
It is not, however, without great cost.
As usual, the mullahs’ brand of quelling unrest is to attack, arrest, and/or kill those who dissent. President Donald Trump recently stated, “If they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved.”
That line has officially been crossed. The death toll has now reached over 500, with the BBC estimating up to 650 fatalities. Other reckonings by the advocacy group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran estimate that the numbers are significantly higher: over 3,000 killings. Even the lowest estimate would still be considered the bloodiest response to protests in Iran since 1979.
“There seem to be some people killed that aren’t supposed to be killed,” President Trump told reporters on Sunday. “These are violent; if you call them leaders, I don’t know if they’re leaders or just … rule through violence. But we’re looking at it very seriously. The military’s looking at it. And we’re looking at some very strong options. We’ll make a determination.” Unlike President Barack Obama and his “red line” in Syria, when Trump warns dictatorial leaders against attacking and killing their own people, he does something about it. (See Nigeria and Venezuela.)
One reason for the uncertainty in the number of deaths is that the regime has shut off the internet, phones, and even electricity, essentially locking its people out from the outside world and attempting to hide its atrocities. Starlink (satellite internet) isn’t allowed in Iran, so the kits have to be smuggled in — but Iran has figured out a way to block even the surreptitious ones. Russia or China is likely behind this sophisticated blocking tech.
Even so, the people of Iran are still persisting and still protesting in the dark and with the world unable to watch. “Some reports suggest that the demonstrations have grown so large that security forces have declined to intervene, been overwhelmed, retreated, or even joined with the demonstrators,” according to Washington Stand commentator Joshua Arnold, who adds:
In Khamenei’s home city of Mashhad, seen as a conservative regime stronghold, an estimated one million protestors turned out (Mashhad is Iran’s third-largest city with a population of 3.4 million).
In some smaller, outlying cities, there are reports that the protestors have taken complete control. These reports are credible enough for the official X account for the Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee to claim that “protestors are … claiming entire cities.
The call is for regime change and, specifically, the return of the shah, who was ousted in 1979. The shah heir apparent, exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, has spoken directly to Trump, asking for intervention and encouraging his people in their fight for freedom.
BREAKING: Iran’s exiled Crown Prince just sent a powerful message to President Trump.
— Tony Lane 🇺🇸 (@TonyLaneNV) January 11, 2026
He says Trump’s stance has given Iranians the courage to stand up to a brutal regime - while Khamenei screams "Death to America,” the people of Iran are doing the opposite.
They’re naming… pic.twitter.com/s6pY3sxzdy
What do Americans, specifically leftists, think about regime change in Iran? Well, it’s been a mixed bag of confusion and inconsistency. In other words, par for the course. When one is operating under a Marxist worldview that has historically linked hands with the Iranian regime and Hamas, what does one do?
“The uprising is not just against the regime but against the repressive tyranny of Islam itself,” New York Post columnist Melanie Phillips points out. “This is intolerable to Western liberals because it gets in the way of their fixed narrative that, when Islamists commit mass murder against the innocent, it’s justified resistance against Western-backed imperialism.”
Phillips adds, “Such liberals simply cannot acknowledge the reality of Islamic terrorism and repression. Their belief that the Israelis and Western imperialism are always the villains, and Muslims are always their victims, is essential to their self-image as morally virtuous people.”
In fact, in Washington, DC, on Sunday, two groups of protesters clashed in a shouting match. One group was marching for Iranian regime change. The other comprised anti-ICE and pro-Palestine protesters. The Gaza Strip was (and marginally still is) run by Hamas, which is an Iranian-funded terrorist group. Tension is obvious between the two causes. One cannot support Iranian freedom while also promoting the Iranian regime’s proxy terrorists.
We are living in interesting times. One thing is certain: The world is holding its breath waiting to see how the Iran situation unfolds. What will President Trump do in response to the killings? Will the protests ultimately get crushed again by an oppressive pro-terrorism regime? Or will the people of Iran finally prevail?
