Iranian Protesters Are Chanting the Regime Is Their Enemy, Not US: Iranian Journalist
The streets of Tehran were filled with marchers this weekend, but instead of citizens forced to participate in a state-orchestrated funeral for Gen. Quassem Soleimani, the protesters were calling for Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khameini to quit.
Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad tweeted the vital difference in protests in a series of messages aimed at informing the world that the Iranian people are not the enemy of the West as much as are the nation’s leaders.
Her Twitter posts pushed back against the Western media narrative that the Iran people hate the U.S. — and mocked the idea that the organized demonstrations at the Soleimani funeral were actually spontaneous outbreaks of emotion among the population, as they were reported in the West.
She wrote that the protests were against the government after it finally admitted that it had accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jetliner, killing all 176 people aboard.
Today all the videos from Iran show the scale of ongoing protests in Tehran.
Iranian protesters are demanding Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei step down after the regime shot down a Ukrainian plane & killed 176 people.
Are the US media and well known actresses covering this? pic.twitter.com/SLjnSK8408
— Masih Alinejad ?️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 11, 2020
Today’s anti-regime demonstrators are chanting in favour of 1500 people the regime killed in November during #IranProtests.
Make no mistake. The West should listen to these people, not regime-orchestrated pro-Soleimani rallies.
These people are Iran’s real face. pic.twitter.com/cVlRJerm4x
— Masih Alinejad ?️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 11, 2020
She also tweeted: “Protests continue in Tehran. Protesters are chanting many of the same slogans from #IranProtests of November 2019 They’re chanting: ‘The regime told us our enemy is the US. But actually, our enemy is right here’ [in reference to the regime itself].”
Protests continue in Tehran. Protesters are chanting many of the same slogans from #IranProtests of November 2019
They’re chanting: “The regime told us our enemy is the US. But actually, our enemy is right here” [in reference to the regime itself]. pic.twitter.com/OjoMw2PMI2
— Masih Alinejad ?️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 11, 2020
She then sought to make the point clear.
“Iranians now chant slogans against #Soleimani and #Khamenei: ‘Soleimani is a killer. So is Khamenei (Supreme Leader)’ To those who jumped the gun lately when the regime orchestrated pro-Soleimani protests and said Iranians were rallying around the flag: It’s not happening!” she wrote, adding other images from the protests to show that students were not anti-American.
Iranians now chant slogans against #Soleimani and #Khamenei:
“Soleimani is a killer. So is Khamenei (Supreme Leader)”
To those who jumped the gun lately when the regime orchestrated pro-Soleimani protests and said Iranians were rallying around the flag:
It’s not happening! pic.twitter.com/y4pKsE4CDd
— Masih Alinejad ?️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 11, 2020
Watch how Iranian students refuse to step on American & the flag of Israel.
This should embarrassed Iranian regime & their propaganda funeral for #Soleimani where people were told to chant “Death To America”.
Now people in Iran chanting “Death to Islamic Republic dictatorship.” pic.twitter.com/hTxDuxZeaB— Masih Alinejad ?️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 12, 2020
Iconic photo from today’s anti-regime protests in Iran: A brave woman challenges the riot police.
Iranians take to the streets again tonight to protest the downing of a civilian airplane by the regime.
People are furious & they’re NOT rallying around the flag for #Soleimani. pic.twitter.com/z7gZcVzAr5
— Masih Alinejad ?️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 12, 2020
Her tweets echo a message sent Saturday by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is also President Donald Trump’s personal attorney.
Giuliani appeared on the Fox News show “Justice with Judge Jeanine,” according to Fox News.
“The desire for freedom in Iran is palpable. It’s strong. I’ve known this for four years,” he said. “These protests have been going on for two and a half to three years. They’ve happened in 278 cities in Iran. People have been killed and more people come back and protest.”
“Nurses have protested. Sanitation workers have protested. Iran is on the brink of being overthrown,” he said.
Giuliani said the time has come for dramatic action — more like President Ronald Reagan’s confrontation of the Soviet Union in the 1980s than President Barack Obama’s perceived passivity during the anti-regime protests in Iran in 2009.
“We’ve got one of two ways of going here,” he added. “We can go with Obama when they had the protests in Iran and he turned his back on it — or we can go with Ronald Reagan when he saw Poland and he said… ‘I stand with you.'”
On Saturday, Trump tweeted two messages to Iran, using both English and Farsi.
“To the brave, long-suffering people of Iran: I’ve stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency, and my Administration will continue to stand with you. We are following your protests closely, and are inspired by your courage,” Trump’s first tweet read.
To the brave, long-suffering people of Iran: I’ve stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency, and my Administration will continue to stand with you. We are following your protests closely, and are inspired by your courage.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2020
Trump followed up by warning Iran that it cannot massacre its own people with impunity.
“The government of Iran must allow human rights groups to monitor and report facts from the ground on the ongoing protests by the Iranian people,” Trump wrote. “There can not be another massacre of peaceful protesters, nor an internet shutdown. The world is watching.”
The government of Iran must allow human rights groups to monitor and report facts from the ground on the ongoing protests by the Iranian people. There can not be another massacre of peaceful protesters, nor an internet shutdown. The world is watching.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2020
The State Department issued a statement that said, “The Iranian people continue their protests against the lies, incompetence, and cruelty of the ayatollah’s regime.”
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