Jan 2, 2026 -- Accusing Donald Trump of engaging in what it said "adventurism," Iran has now asked Americans to "watch over their soldiers."
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| BBC snap |
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran on 1 February 1979 after 15 years of exile. That marked a new chapter in Iran and Middle East.
"The monarchy will be eradicated .... There are aspects of life under the present corrupt form of government in Iran which will have to be changed... Drugs such as alcoholic beverages will be prohibited," Khomeini told BBC's John Simpson in 1979.
The spiritual leader also had said - "We are hostile to foreign governments which have forced the Shah on Iran."
More than 90% of Iran's Muslims are Shia, and back in 1979 the ousting of the shah by Shia Islamist revolutionaries shocked and electrified the Islamic world.
Shia in countries like Lebanon and parts of the Gulf stopped accepting that they were at the bottom of the social and political pile, and demanded more say.
In 1979 Islamic militants took 52 Americans hostage inside the US embassy
Sunnis in the region were deeply worried, yet they too were fascinated by the overthrow of a leader backed by the West.The Americans were humiliated, and no-one in the Middle East would forget it. Between 1980 and 1988 Iran was caught up in a savage war against Iraq, and it was obsessed with the need to survive.
After many years now; questions are now arising as to whether members of the “hard base”—which make up the foot soldiers of the suppressive apparatus—will continue to defend the regime if unrest sets in.
Such questions have already invoked panic across the senior oligarchy of the Islamic Republic, who know all too well that it was the demoralization and, ultimately, the abandonment of dictator Bashar al-Assad’s suppressive forces that resulted in the collapse of the Baathist regime in Syria.
As the new year has commenced; US president Donald Trump shot off a warning to Khamenei --
"If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go."
As reports of chants calling for the death of Iran's Supreme Leader and for the return of the exiled leader to the US began circulating, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in Iran’s Razavi Khorasan province, Ahmad Alamolhoda, dismissed the developments as fabricated using artificial intelligence.
Alamolhoda alleged that Israeli media and what he called "enemy-affiliated outlets" filmed crowds and then used AI technology to superimpose anti-government chants onto the visuals.
He said the aim was to create the impression that Iranians have turned against the Islamic Revolution and want the system to collapse.
Along with chants of "Mullahs must leave Iran", the slogan of "Javid Shah", meaning "long live the Shah", was raised by the protestors.
"Iranians know US 'rescue' record well, from Iraq and Afghanistan to Gaza. Any intervening hand-nearing Iran Security on pretexts will be cut off with a Regret Inducing Response.
Iran’s national security is a Red Line, not material for adventurist tweets," said ... Ali Shamkhani, a senior aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader.
Paradox of changes :::
After 2003, when the US invaded Iraq and destroyed the power of the minority Sunnis, Iraq's Shia majority began to dominate the country with the strong support of Iran.
Iran became a regional superpower - courtesy of President George W Bush. The irony could scarcely have been greater. Israel and US President Donald Trump's administration see Iran as a major threat.
However; the United Kingdom and the European Union see things differently.
President Jimmy Carter welcomed the shah to the White House in 1977
(BBC snap)
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Iran appears a lot more easy-going than most outsiders imagine.
The rules about women's dress are sometimes enforced harshly, but the Islamic Republic has never clamped down on women's freedom of movement in the way you see routinely in Saudi Arabia with its male guardianship system.
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The US Marine barracks bombing in Beirut left 299 American and French troops dead
Additional info :
The arrival at the White House of George W Bush in 2001 brought hardliners into the ascendant in the US too.
After 9/11, Iran co-operated with the US against their mutual Taliban foes in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Khatami was rewarded by having his country dubbed part of the "Axis of Evil" by Mr Bush in January 2002.
Later that year, Iran's secret nuclear programme suddenly broke into the limelight, revealed by exiles from the Mujahideen-e Khalq.
ends
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