At least 106 Iranians have already been killed in protests over fuel prices that began last Friday, Amnesty International reported on Tuesday.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani could have cooled popular passions had they responded to these protests with humility. Amid already-significant economic despair, it was understandable that Iranians would be upset over his regime’s withdrawal of fuel subsidies. Had the government had any interest in recognizing the scale of suffering, it might have tapered off the subsidy withdrawal. Instead, Khamenei and his authoritarian hordes are doing what they do best — they are spilling Iranian blood and justifying their violence by labeling their fellow citizens as Western saboteurs and hooligans corrupted by the internet.
The United States is right not to stand by idly and witness this injustice. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was right on Monday to pledge support for the Iranian people. But more should be done. And there’s plenty that can be done short of military aggression.
For a start, the Trump administration should provide satellite-internet devices to the protesters. Khamenei has shut down Iran’s internet grid in an effort to prevent Iranians and people the world over from seeing how he, a supposedly humble religious leader, treats peaceful protesters. At this delicate moment, the internet’s transparency could fatally weaken an already-wobbly regime, simply by telling the truth about the righteous nature of Iranian popular anger and government repression.
The U.S. should also name and shame in order to grab the attention of European governments that pay lip service to ending human rights abuses. Many of them, such as Emmanuel Macron, claim that the European Union is the world’s leading defender of human rights on the international stage. If the truth is released to the world in pictures, then they will no longer be able to make such claims while overlooking grave, deadly abuses in Iran.
It is the corruption of Iran’s mullahs, not their oppression, that has caused a popular revolt against them. When Iran’s theocratic regime announced the end of fuel subsidies, it claimed that the savings would go to help the poor. Not a soul in the entire country believes that story. Rather, amid a stagnant economy made even worse by Western sanctions, Khamenei and his Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will use the money to consolidate their extensive and deeply corrupt patronage networks, even as the rest of Iran suffers growing economic despair.
Trump has made clear that the U.S. is open to removing sanctions against Iran in return for an improved nuclear deal. Leaders who cared for their people would take this offer to heart. Iran’s leaders do not. They have long wasted Iran’s vast resources on the export of terrorism and a revolutionary theology itself defined by authoritarianism, brutality, and corruption. Why should they change now?
Unless, of course, they are forced to change or get forced out of power. And it could happen. Their revolution is currently being rejected through popular uprisings not only in Iran but also in Iraq and Lebanon, where Iran’s malign influence has long deprived people of peace and freedom.
This would be a good moment for Trump to affirm that the Islamic Republic of Iran is an illegitimate government and that Iranians have every right to overthrow it and forge a new democratic government. Trump should make this clear, but without endorsing any particular alternative Iranian political group.
Such a statement would show that America does not view Iranian politics as President Barack Obama once did — as a morally nuanced or complex question. After all, in the streets of Iran’s cities and towns, Khamenei’s government is now showing that there is nothing complex or nuanced about his regime’s nature or its regard for Iranians.
