With Western help, Iranians have a chance of freedom

Right now, hundreds of thousands of Iranians across the country are risking everything by taking to the streets.

- VAHID BEHESHTI

Ever since the anti-government protests started with a sit-in by shopkeepers in Tehran's Grand Bazaar on 28 December, unrest has erupted in more than 280 locations. It is already the largest challenge to the country’s clerical establishment for years - and it’s showing no signs of being put down.

Violent clashes with security forces have seen government buildings set on fire and statues of authority figures within the Islamic regime attacked. Teargas has been used to disperse the protests — even inside a hospital.

Dozens have already died, and more than 1,200 demonstrators have been detained. But the brave people of Iran have sensed their opportunity to change the course of history. In the Kurdish city of Abdanan, members of the hardline morality police are reported to have laid down their weapons, declaring: “The armed forces are with the people.” They are confronting a regime collapsing under the weight of its own cruelty after 47 years of brutal theocratic rule.