429
Iran asks its people to delete WhatsApp from their devices
(www.independent.co.uk)
(Somewhat unrelated to the subject, but I felt like writing my thoughts on Iran in general.)
Iran being a Shia theocracy seems repressive and backwards to us, and surely they are as theocracies tend to be. This means that thinking about Iran westerners tend to think they themselves are on the good side, while Iran is on the bad side. But this is fundamentally wrong and the west is clearly the bad actor, given that it does not have any legitimate interests in the area and only engaged for imperialistic reasons.
If you look at Iran's history you'll learn that the Islamic Revolution of Iran was a response to western influences, and those western influences came along with the 1953 coup d'etat. And this coup d'état was supported by the US & UK. And the only reason this was done was for the purpose of oil. It was in reaction to Iran trying to nationalize it's oil industry, which obviously was a good idea, but bad for the western imperialists. So you install a puppet regime, that begs for a revolution, and surprise surpise, there's a revolution and it happens to be religious and conservative. So ever since the people of Iran have been stuck with it's theocracy, Undeniably this is in part the fault of the West.
Then of course there is the anti-Israel stance of Iran, which is constantly used as proof of Iran being evil. But if just for a second you try to look at Israel from the perspective of someone from the Middle East, you'll see that Israel is a colonial state, founded by zionists who from the very start commited ethnic cleansing to secure their state. The Nakba isn't talked about much in the west, but just try to imagine a similar event happening in your region of the world by foreign powers, and you'll understand the impact that would have. That is not forgotten after a few decades, especially because Israel is still driving people from their lands and colonizing it till this very day. This isn't ancient history, this is in the present. They even returned to committing genocide all over again. Also, Israel has been the base for the US influence in the region and all the wars and interventions that come with that. How can you possibly expect Iran to not view Israel as their mortal enemy? Just imagine a Middle Eastern colonial state located in Europe or the US, created by ethnic cleansing the local population. We'd view that state as a mortal enemy and want to drive these people of our lands. I am not saying this is the proper thing to do, I am saying it's obvious that this sentiment is broadly shared. It's hardly surprising. Victims tend to have harsh views of those who attacked them.
And Iran is being attacked again, supposedly for developing nuclear weapons. Meanwhile Israel has had nuclear weapons since the 60s. But in the views of westerners this is not a problem, because Israel is good, being a democracy and all that, while Iran is bad, being a theocracy. But these are all just western frames. Why in the world would a bomb be in safe hands with a hyperagressive colonial ethnostate that has repeatedly engaged in ethnic cleanings? But not in the hands of an admittedly backwards, conservative theocracy, that wants to secure itself from western imperialism. The Iranian interest in having a bomb seems completely reasonable actually. Again, just imagine a Middle Eastern colonial hyperagressive ethnostate founded by the ethnic cleansing of your local communities. And now they have nuclear bombs. And not only that, Middle Easterns powers are constantly engaging in wars all across your region. Would it be unreasonable for you to also want a nuclear bomb in such a situation? It's a no brainer.
And as much as I dislike theocracies, I can't help but think that if the west wasn't as imperialist as we have been and still are, Iran would've developed into something completely different. Iran/Persia has always been the center of regional powers, from the Achaemenids 500 bc till today. It's a beautiful country, they have a beautiful and rich history and they have an incredible culture, from the Islamic geometry, to the persian miniatures, to the incredible Sufi poets. You can't expect a proud people as they are to lie back and be dominated by western imperialism. And the more you repress people, the more they're bound to turn to theocractic conservatist populism.
TL:DR we're not the good guys, Iran are not the bad guys.
