This helps to hammer home the fact that the Iranian uprising and its call for regime change are merely being propagated by liberal, educated urbanites who are influenced by the West. Instead, it is the overwhelming wish of the Iranian people as a whole. Democracy, human rights, and freedom appeal to all Iranians.

The protests in Qom were part of a larger protest across several Iranian cities on Sunday, including in Karaj, Shiraz, Mashhad, Isfahan, and Tehran, where protesters condemned the Regime’s policies and their dwindling living conditions.
Many have attributed these protests to economic uncertainty surrounding the return of US sanctions on Monday. These sanctions were reimposed following Donald Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal in May.

In Tehran on Sunday, dozens gathered around the Calj Bridge, in order to avoid the strict security measures imposed by the Regime’s authorities in more central locations. The state-run media, however, downplayed the protests as part of the Regime’s attempts to seem in control.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has failed to deal with the crises causing the protests, despite promising to do so on many occasions. This resulted in him having to attend an accountability hearing in the Iranian Parliament on August 1, but to be clear, the Iranian government did not (and will not) hold any of their own responsibility. This was a PR exercise designed to placate the people, although no one will be fooled.

The Regime blames “foreign enemies” for its crises, when the reality is that the mullahs are the ones responsible. They are the ones who dangerously destabilised the economy through corruption and mismanagement, preferring to line their own pockets, fund terrorist group and create havoc across the Middle East rather than attend to the needs of their people. They are the ones who violated the nuclear deal, which was so widely in their favour, and caused the reimposition of sanctions. They are the ones who refused Trump’s offer of talks to resolve the issue.

And soon, the Regime will pay for their crimes when the Iranian people’s uprising results in the overthrow of the mullahs and their expulsion from the Middle East. The US should publically support the Iranian people in this goal in order to bring peace to the region.