Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the current situation in Iran regarding internet access and protests?
Right now, Iranians have no internet. They are living under an almost complete blackout because their government has cut them off once again. Now, we do not know exactly what is happening on the streets of Tehran. We do not know how many protesters have been arrested. We don't know the real death toll. But what we do know is that Iran's youth is not backing down.
I mean, this is not their first fight. And now Trump is deciding how and if America is going to get involved. Now, before we get into anything in the story and what is happening in Iran, I just want to take a second to say just how lucky we are.
Like, I hope everyone appreciates that, that we live in a country that, at least at this point, does not cut off internet access, that still has freedom of speech, that I'm allowed to sit here behind a microphone and criticize our government if I want to, that we can vote, actually, for our elected officials. because millions around the world do not have that privilege.
Because right now, as we are sitting in the comfort of our own homes, as I am sitting behind this microphone with my telephone streaming to you guys, Iranians are fighting for basic human rights under a real, a genuine fascist religious extremist government. Not the kind the left complains about, but a real fascist regime. and they are taking to the streets to fight for a better future.
And allegedly, based on the few videos that we have been able to see that have made their way out of Iran, again, they are living under a blackout, these are what the streets have looked like for days. Now, Iranians have been in and out of blackouts for weeks now, and information is limited, but human rights organizations have reported reported the death toll to now be in the tens of thousands.
And that number has spiked just in the last 48 hours because I started looking into this and prepping this episode earlier this week on Monday when reports were saying that only a few hundred had been killed. And then today when I sat down to record this episode, it looks like now it is estimated to be at 12,000.
Now, first of all, I want to give my usual disclaimer, per usual, that I am not claiming to be any kind of expert on Iranian, you know, geopolitics, but I did learn a lot about the history as I was researching this episode. It was things that I did not know that maybe you also didn't know.
So I just wanted to share that before we get into what is happening today, because I think it is really important context. So let's just take it back to 1951 when Mohammad Mosaddegh was elected as prime minister in Iran. Now, an important fact and something that we are seeing everywhere all the time in geopolitics is that everything basically comes back to oil.
And Mohammad nationalized Iran's oil industry, which was previously controlled by the British. Effectively, they were telling the West to go F themselves. We don't want foreign interference in our government. We are going to be autonomous. Go F yourself. And this is where it really gets interesting because in 1951, There was a coup against Muhammad executed by the CIA and MI6 in the UK.
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Chapter 2: How has the historical context shaped Iran's current political landscape?
So then fast forward 20 years, then in 1999, students then led the charge with another set of protests, and an article from that year reads, Iran on the brink as students protest. Three days of clashes between reformers and Hezbollah hardliners erupt after a newspaper ban. But still, nothing changed.
The next big protests would once again come from young women in 2022, so another 20 years after that. And these protests were spurred after a young woman, 22-year-old Masha Amini, was arrested for quote-unquote improper hijab. But only a few days later, under their arrest, she died. And the Iranian authorities said that she died coincidentally of a heart attack.
But her family believes this to be untrue. Most of Iran believes this to be untrue. Her father said, quote, what makes me sad is that the authorities are spreading lies about my daughter every day. They said Masa had a heart disease and epilepsy, but as the father who raised her for 22 years, I say loudly that Masa did not have any illness. She was in perfect health.
The person who hit my daughter should be put on trial in a public court, not a fake trial that results in reprimands and expulsions. Her family members also told news outlets that they were denied access to her autopsy report, pressured to quickly bury her, and told not to speak publicly about the case. But they decided not to do that, and the story could not be suppressed.
And protests erupted after her death, which then in turn led to 500 other deaths and over 20,000 arrests. Now what made these protests very different, and arguably a lot more powerful than the ones that took place in 1999 and 1979, was the internet.
Because not only were the people in Iran able to see how people lived in other countries, but they were able to show us the realities of their country. They were filming everything. It was all over social media within hours. Videos were flooding out of Iran, just like this.
Women in Iran set their headscarves on fire in fury. They are tired of the morality police beating them up and the Islamic Republic leaders who police their every move. Their protest is sparked by the death of this woman.
And this is what the government of Iran, that is run by old 80-year-old men, does not understand. The internet is forever. You cannot erase videos seen by millions of people around the world. This is the 21st century. We are filming everything, including your citizens. We are posting it, and you can post things a lot faster if Pure Talk is your provider.
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Chapter 3: What role did the U.S. play in Iran's political history?
The world knows what you and your government are capable of. We know what you do. Now, speaking of that, and all of us being very aware. The other thing that I want to point out is that even with all of these videos coming out, the articles, the reports, there is one sect of our country here in America that is totally silent.
The side of the country that conveniently is constantly yelling about fascism and religious extremism and women's rights and gay rights and yet consistently turns a blind eye when real dictators and murdering people in the streets, when real fascists and religious extremists are beheading women because they dare to show their hair, who throw gay people off of buildings.
The Golden Globes just happened 48 hours ago. Not a word was said about Iran. They were completely silent. Jack Mack, my good friend from Barstool, he summed this up well. Listen to what he said.
I find it very interesting that I'm seeing no Instagram stories about Iran. Which, by the way, the current regime in Iran has killed over 2,000 protesters over the past week or so, if not more, including a five-year-old child that was in the arms of a mother. Various Instagram stories that I look to to see what the appropriate thing to think is have said nothing. I haven't seen anything there.
Last night at the Golden Globes, nobody said anything. Not one mention. Not one. And they mentioned a lot of things. I'm not saying you only have to care about one thing. You can only care about one thing. That's how the world works. But I do find it interesting that I'm not seeing any of those, oh, here's this colorful story where you swipe through on this post.
Yeah, where are the infographics? Where are the infographics about the Ayatollah and the Iranian revolution? They don't exist because it's not convenient for them. Somebody commented and said the left wasn't told to be upset about it. Yeah, maybe it's because they've spent the last couple of years defending Muslim regimes. Maybe it's because they just elected a Muslim mayor to lead New York City.
So they're like, oh, maybe we should sit this one out. No, actually, you shouldn't. Because thousands of innocent people are being killed for what you have the privilege of doing every single day. Complaining about your government. Standing up to fight them. You have the privilege and the freedom to do that from behind your Instagram stories.
And they are being killed in the streets for wanting that same freedom. To be able to do that safely. Somebody else commented and said, Mark Ruffalo is awfully quiet. Yeah. They all are, but Trump isn't, which takes us to our next point in this episode, which obviously, U.S.
involvement, it's a big question on everybody's minds, because back in D.C., he and his admin are deliberating whether or not the U.S. should get involved in this fight, and while it is very clear that I think most of the United States stands with Iran and supports them, it is still up for debate if that is good enough, And many Republicans are already calling for the military to get involved.
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