Mehdi Parpanchi
Iran International executive editor
Iran International executive editor
What happened in Iran on Thursday night was not simply another protest. Coordinated mass demonstrations unfolded nationwide in response to a direct call from Prince Reza Pahlavi that specified not only the action but also the timing.
The idea that Iran could change course through a shift at the top—without the collapse of the structure itself, and with a pragmatic figure opening up to the world—rests on a false assumption about how power actually works in Tehran.
Jon Snow, the longtime British broadcaster, once spoke at a London roundtable about his trips to Tehran. Asked how Channel 4 gained such easy access to Iranian officials, he paused and replied, “They whistle, and we go.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian departed Tehran for the United Nations in New York last week buoyed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's quiet blessing to start secret talks with Washington to ward off looming sanctions.
The war has paused, but the collapse has not. Shaken by defeat in the streets, across the region, and from the skies, the Islamic Republic now stands weakened and exposed. The pillars that once held it up, ideology, reach, and fear, are cracking.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's oft stated mantra of "no war and no negotiations" with the United States became untenable when US President Donald Trump gave a stark ultimatum that he reach a nuclear deal or face attack.
In the wake of Iran's massive but largely ineffectual missile barrage, Israel has arrived at a critical crossroads that will test its ambition in dealing with its mortal enemy.
