cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/43881463
March 1, 2026
In the first hours of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, opponents of the war and critics of the Islamic Republic from across the political spectrum quickly made their divergent voices heard on Farsi social media.
While anti-war activists were swift to revive the Farsi hashtag “No to War” on Saturday, pro-monarchy groups and individuals, led by Reza Pahlavi, called for an escalation of attacks on Iran.
Pahlavi, the Israel-aligned son of the country’s last shah, has been at the helm of a movement advocating the restoration of the monarchy. Since Israel’s 12-day war on Iran last year, his camp has mounted an aggressive media campaign against rival opposition voices.
The problem is the severe disconnect between Iran diaspora and english speaking Iranians online.
I know the same Iranian general group that you know that are all happy about the US intervention, but the reality is that it represents quite a small percentage of the total number of Iranians.
People think the Ayatolllah is widely unpopular in Iran, but he is still very well supported which is why many analysts think this airstrike method won’t cause a successful regime change.
You just won’t meet those people because they live in Iran and don’t post on popular social media, and definitely not in english.
Its the same for a lot of countries like Pakistan. I can personally guarantee you that the average post on r/Pakistan is not representative of the average Pakistani.
That doesn’t change the fact that Iran has had many pro democracy protests over the past decades. It was democratic before the US and UK overthrew it in 1953. I don’t doubt Iran could become a healthy democracy again.
But I don’t think this is the way to do it. The US has had a terrible track record with regime change over the past 25 years. There’s a good chance that Trump will settle for an oil deal.
I do hope this will result in democracy in Iran, but chances are slim.
Yeah that’s a very good point.