These days, social media is filled with images and narratives portraying the developments in Iran as a “women’s revolution.” Pages identifying themselves as feminist speak of women rising up against gender apartheid and attempt to frame the recent unrest purely within a political and ideological narrative.
But does the reality on the ground in Iran actually support this portrayal? To better understand what is happening in Iran today, one must inevitably revisit the history of Western intervention in the country. In 1953, the intelligence agencies of the United States and Britain orchestrated a coup against the democratically elected government of Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh, overthrowing Iran’s fragile democracy.
But what exactly was Mossadegh’s crime? Nationalizing Iran’s oil industry and removing the country’s natural resources from the monopoly of Western companies. Following that coup, the West imposed the dictatorship of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on Iran, who ruled the country for a quarter of a century with the full support of those same powers. After the 1979 Revolution and Iran’s independence from Western influence, a policy of crippling sanctions was put into effect. For 46 years, economic pressure has subjected the Iranian people to one of the most severe livelihood crises in their modern history.
These sanctions, which directly affect the everyday lives of ordinary citizens, are a major driver of runaway inflation, chronic unemployment, and the rising cost of essential goods—the very conditions that Western media now point to as the underlying causes of protests. What these outlets often overlook is that the same governments and institutions behind those narratives have played a central role in imposing and maintaining these sanctions for decades.
Meanwhile, at a time when social media pages speak of a “people’s revolution” in Iran, American and Israeli warplanes have reportedly targeted Iranian cities. Field reports suggest that these attacks have not been limited to military facilities; hospitals, schools, and residential complexes in the heart of cities have also been struck.
Western analysts themselves have openly stated that the objective of such attacks is to disable the core structure of the Islamic Republic and encourage Iranians to rise against the government from within. This, it appears, is the kind of “support” the West offers to the Iranian people: bombing cities to create chaos and push the country toward internal conflict.
At the same time, Iranian intelligence authorities have reported the discovery of large shipments of electronic equipment intended for espionage and sabotage, as well as the arrest of individuals allegedly linked to Mossad who were attempting to arm protesters. These developments point to what Iranian officials describe as a coordinated project carried out by Israel and the United States to destabilize the country.
The narratives currently circulating on certain social media pages about Iran appear, in this perspective, to be less a reflection of on-the-ground realities and more part of a broader effort aimed at destabilizing the country. The same West that today presents itself as a supporter of Iranian protesters once overthrew Mossadegh, installed a dictatorial monarch, has maintained harsh sanctions against the Iranian people for 46 years, and is now accused of bombing Iranian cities as part of a broader strategy to force political collapse.
Iranians have not forgotten that the last time the West claimed to act in the name of “supporting democracy” in Iran, the result was the 1953 coup and 25 years of dictatorship. What Iran needs today, according to this view, is not fiery slogans or external backing, but national cohesion, economic resilience built on domestic capacity, and a wise response to what is perceived as a broader project aimed at weakening and fragmenting the country.
Faeze Aghamohammady