Mohammadreza Karamsoltani

[CTV News @CTVNews]

‘Regime change through a war is a fantasy,’ says Iranian-Canadian journalist https://t.co/TifceWNJqd

[Trita Parsi @tparsi]

And there you have it. Israel is not yet finished in its attempt to subjugate Iran, but without missing a beat, it is already marketing the next "threat" that must be defeated: Turkey.

"A new Turkish threat is emerging... And from here I warn: Turkey is the new Iran. Erdogan is sophisticated, dangerous, and he seeks to encircle Israel."

As an Israeli friend told me 22 years ago, Israel can't live without an existential threat. The black/white clarity such threats provide is addictive, he argued.

[Trita Parsi @tparsi]

At the university protests in Tehran, slogans were chanted in favor of democracy and against both monarchy and theocracy.

[Trita Parsi @tparsi]

It's not that Pahlavi has done a good job hiding his authoritarian disposition, it's just that he never has been scrutinized.

But the slightest scrutiny - such as when a European reporter at Munich asked him how he's proposed constitutional monarchy can work when Pahlavi doesn't acknowledge what went wrong with the previous monarchy - and the intolerance for being challenged reveals itself. (He answers: "Why are you talking about the past?")

Pahlavi would have been much better prepared for this moment he had been scrutinized in the past 47 years.

[Gregory Brew @gbrew24]

The Pahlavi strategy is a curious one.

On the one hand, adopt broadly liberal rhetoric to attract mainstream attention and earn legitimacy.

On the other hand, maintain a MAGA-style hostility toward those not already in your tent.

[Mohammadreza Karamsoltani @MrKs1998]

Always wondered how the intellectuals of the revolutionary era placed their trust in Khomeini as their movement leader despite his lack of experience.
Today, seeing the support of a group of those same people for Reza Pahlavi, I've come to understand how such misjudgments happen!

[Yashar Ali 🐘 @yashar]

UPDATE on IRAN

HRANA’s latest numbers.

This is absolutely horrific.

Reminder: HRANA death confirmations take time as they go through multiple layers of confirmation.

Confirmed fatalities: 3,308 people
Deaths under investigation: 4,382 cases
Protesters: 3,097
Children under 18: 22
Military and regime forces: 166
Non-protesting civilians: 23

Severely injured: 2,107 people

Arrested individuals: 24,266 people

Broadcast forced confessions: 132 cases

[Trita Parsi @tparsi]

This is a stunning segment and reveals how unprepared or compromised Pahlavi is.

@NorahODonnell asks: “Is it responsible to be sending citizens in Iran to their deaths? Do you bear some responsibility?”

(Context: Pahlavi sits in the safety of Maryland and urges people to risk their lives by taking to the streets. The Islamic Republic has shown almost unprecedented brutality and killed 1,600 protesters by the count of the USG)

Pahlavi's response is stunning in its strategic folly.

“This is a war, and war has casualties," he says.

By calling this a war, Pahlavi essentially legitimizes the regime's brutal use of force since killing your opponents is accepted in war.

As an exiled supposed leader, a critical element of his strategy to overthrow the regime should be to delegitimize its use of force.

He does the opposite and, by that, does the regime a major favor.

It is unclear to me whether his answer is rooted in incompetence or in an undemocratic mentality that resembles that of the Islamic Republic itself.

[Esfandyar Batmanghelidj @yarbatman]

Imagine waking up to reports that hundreds of protestors have been killed in Iran and still thinking it’s a good idea to wear a stupid hat and stand grinning alongside Lindsay Graham and Danny Danon. @dkhos do you have any decorum? FYI, thumbs up is an offensive gesture in Iran.

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

I know I shouldn’t be but I am remain amazed at the sheer shamelessness of Western pundits, especially openly pro-Israel pundits, warning the Iranian government not to attack protesters. These same pundits who happily egged on the Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza.

[Sohrab Ahmari 🇺🇸 @SohrabAhmari]

Shariah law is here.

[Trita Parsi @tparsi]

WOW!

BREAKING!

Two Israeli soldiers arrested in Belgium after war crimes complaint by rights groups

Legal action groups hail arrest of two soldiers as a 'breakthrough' in accountability efforts for Gaza atrocities

https://t.co/6f1vxvrJp8

[Dorsa Jabbari @DorsaJabbari]

This is a new low….

[جمال عاملی @jamal_ameli]

اسم محسن شکاری و مهسا امینی رو هشتک زده بود مثل خیلی از ما و حالا با موشک اسرائیلی کشته شده
#StandAgainstWar

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

The entire Israeli argument after Oct 7th was that Hamas was ISIS - a ludicrous claim - but now we discover that Israel is backing ISIS-related gangs in Gaza.

Every. Accusation. Is. A. Confession.

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

I'm sorry, as much as I am enjoying this spat, how can you take seriously someone who spent 100s of millions of dollars electing Trump, then went to work for Trump, left government just days ago praising Trump, and is now calling for Trump's impeachment.

Just unserious people.

[Khalil Sayegh @KhalilJeries]

Israel killed an American catholic journalist, yet no one seemed to care.

[Jairo I. Fúnez-Flores @Jairo_I_Funez]

The only thing I know about the Super Bowl is this.

[Aryia Sheikhy @Aryia_Sheikhy]

و صدای #زن
سرود #زندگی‌ ست
در حقیقت #آزادی
Femme Vie Liberté
https://t.co/OtYbbAYdLj