Iranian Revolution

If the US and Israel decide to strike Iran that has been floated as a possibility, won’t they kill innocent Iranians as well as the intended target?
Am really not sure about this.

Reza Pahlavi is very close to Netanyahu.
At least he will sleep easier in his bed at night.

The rebellion needs a leader and the Islamic Republic has not allowed the development of any kind of opposition within Iran.

petra

keepingquiet

Irans's mistakes was to think it deserved a place at the nuclear arms table.

Ukraines's mistake was to leave it.

Ukraine didn’t willingly give up their nuclear weapons.
They were assured that in the event of a Russian attack they would be protected.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crl3ndxglwxo

You're right- they were duped.

The Ukrainians trusted the USA to keep their promise to keep them safe.

Maremia

The Ukrainians trusted the USA to keep their promise to keep them safe.

And I think all other allies in the west should learn from this.

Fallingstar

If the US and Israel decide to strike Iran that has been floated as a possibility, won’t they kill innocent Iranians as well as the intended target?
Am really not sure about this.

The USA have an appalling record once these strikes have taken place. The population is left in a ruined country and economy, with no aid from the aggressor.

The Middle East has been unstable since Iraq, and much of what we have seen is a result of the USA’s actions.

Tony Blair ?

It was reported in the Guardian today that the Revolutionary Guard broke into a hospital and beat patients and doctors. So much for the mullahs' version of Islam. We are seeing an unarmed desperate people trying to overthrow a despotic, brutal government. They need help.

Fallingstar

So many have been killed and so many detained, brave souls. I hope they manage to overthrow the regime before Trump descends in a blaze of glory.

Me too

ronib

Tony Blair ?

& TB, sadly

On the coat tails of the USA though.

Whitewavemark2

On the coat tails of the USA though.

Now they are on the coattails of the Russians and Chinese, is that better?

David49

Whitewavemark2

On the coat tails of the USA though.

Now they are on the coattails of the Russians and Chinese, is that better?

?

Who is David? If you mean Reform, then I have to agree.

SORES

this situation causes me to appreciate our beleagured Monarchy, ‘occupying a space so that others can not’

and “Not without my Daughter” - with a totally believable
Sally Field as Betty Mahmoody

An aunt of dh told us of a real ‘Not without my daughter’. IIRC it was in the 50s when she and dh’s uncle were living and working in Iran - IIRC he was a mining engineer.

A Brit friend of theirs, married to an Iranian, was in the same position - badly wanted to leave, since her dh (who she’d met in the U.K.) had turned very strictly controlling, and would never have allowed her to leave without their young child.

Dh’s aunt and uncle eventually smuggled her and her child out of the country via some difficult and very hazardous route. And by all accounts endlessly dreading the car breaking down, since no help would have been available.
But they succeeded.

Cossy

Fallingstar

I think I meant sceptical rather than cynical. But both describe my thoughts on the ex Shah’s son.

Perhaps they genuinely believe that they will be better off

Anything better than living under a tyrannical Islamist theocracy.

Freya5
Well it does seem that way, but in 1979 many Iranians probably thought anything was better than living under the heel of the Shah.
Quite often it can be out of the frying pan and into the fire. If the majority want Reza Pahlavi back as Shah then they should make it on condition that there is also a democratically elected government and PM.
As in the UK.

Fallingstar

Freya5
Well it does seem that way, but in 1979 many Iranians probably thought anything was better than living under the heel of the Shah.
Quite often it can be out of the frying pan and into the fire. If the majority want Reza Pahlavi back as Shah then they should make it on condition that there is also a democratically elected government and PM.
As in the UK.

Democracy in Iran is highly unlikely anytime soon there are too many extremists in the region, every country in the region (except Israel) is some kind of military dictatorship

The choice is a government trading freely and peacefully or a government under sanctions backed by China, The present Iranian elite are quite happy controlling the population by force.

Cossy

Fallingstar

So many have been killed and so many detained, brave souls. I hope they manage to overthrow the regime before Trump descends in a blaze of glory.

Me too

If only Trump would descend in a blaze of glory, the worry for the Iranians is that he’ll do nothing at all to help their case.

Reza Pahlavi has said that he is offering himself as a transitional leader in anticipation of democratic government in Iran. Someone needed to step into that role. He is communicating clearly with the Iranian population and with world leaders to move things forward.

Freya5

Cossy

Fallingstar

I think I meant sceptical rather than cynical. But both describe my thoughts on the ex Shah’s son.

Perhaps they genuinely believe that they will be better off

Anything better than living under a tyrannical Islamist theocracy.

Sure is!

Today it looks like Trump isnt going to get involved in Iran, the staged pro governments and refusal of neighbouring countries to allow US to use their airspace clinched it.

Now he can concentrate on harrassing Greenland

ronib

Tony Blair ?

Nice try Ronib.
After the 2003 invasion, the US led the post-war administration through the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), installing its own leadership while the UK focused on reconstruction, especially in the south, though British efforts faced resource issues and coordination problems with the predominantly American planning, with the US ultimately holding primary command.

Thanks Mamie but Tony Blair will always be linked to events which led to the start of the Iraqi war.