It will be 47 years next month since Ayatollah Khomeini swept to power in Iran’s Islamic revolution. Over nearly half a century of misrule, he and his successors have made their country the bane of the civilised world.
Iran is the most prolific exporter of terrorism. Through its Revolutionary Guard Corps and proxies including Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, it has worked tirelessly to destabilise the Middle East, Yemen and much of sub-Saharan Africa.
It has held Westerners hostage in its jails, and its agents and supporters have murdered political opponents abroad. It is the very definition of a rogue state.
Domestically, the mullahs have imposed Muslim fundamentalism with a rod of iron. ‘Morality police’ routinely beat and sometimes kill women who refuse to wear the hijab, any dissent is mercilessly crushed and public executions are commonplace.
For ordinary Iranians to protest against this medieval tyranny takes enormous courage, risking arrest, torture or worse. Yet thousands have been massing in the streets of up to 30 cities to demonstrate against oppression and the collapsing economy.
Retribution has been swift and deadly, with at least six protesters reported to have died in the last two days alone. Some 500 dissidents are thought to have been killed since the beginning of November.
The downfall of this pariah theocracy has been predicted before, yet it has managed to survive through savagery and intimidation. But there’s no doubt it has been severely weakened over the past two years.
In response to the October 7 massacre, Israel has smashed Hezbollah to pieces in Lebanon, joined the US in bombing Iranian nuclear sites and assassinating atomic scientists and military leaders. Sanctions and the falling oil price have seen the economy tank and led to soaring inflation.
Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini has spent almost 50 years making Iran the bane of the civilised world
Even so, Khomeini’s heirs will not give in easily and if there is regime change, it is by no means certain that Iran’s next rulers will be enlightened or democratic.
But it is hard to imagine they could be any worse. We must salute the bravery of the protesters and wish them every success in their liberation struggle.
A laughing stock
We should all welcome the FTSE-100 share index topping the 10,000-point mark for the first time yesterday. It shows the resilience of the London stock exchange and is a boost for investors.
But Rachel Reeves’ tawdry attempt to take credit was risible. This benchmark was reached despite her policies rather than because of them and there are many signs of more trouble ahead.
The high street is in crisis and new figures show manufacturing under intense strain. UK inflation is the highest in the G7, unemployment is rising inexorably, and business confidence is on the floor.
Instead of taking credit for things that are going right because of the work of others, it’s time she took responsibility for those that are going badly wrong because of her.
In a fascinating insight into the dysfunction at the heart of Downing Street, Sir Keir Starmer’s former head of strategy tells how the Government has been ‘emasculated’ by a loose affiliation of well-funded lobby groups, activist lawyers and charity campaigners, each obsessed with their own ‘fringe’ issues.
Instead of putting them in their place, the PM appeases them. Sir Keir may be in office, but it seems this unelected coalition of Left-wing ‘stakeholders’ is in power.