As Iran nears the 44th anniversary of the 1979 Revolution, the mullahs’ regime is engaging in mass propaganda.

Against the backdrop of a four-month uprising, the mullahs are trying to show that they are still in control.

Meanwhile, protesters are expressing their desire for regime change by targeting regime icons. This includes propaganda posters, buildings of the oppressive IRGC and Basij forces, and offices of the murderous judiciary.

At the same time, protests continue in many cities, with slogans chanted against regime leaders.
Protesters are also making it clear that they do not want to return to the era of the Shah dictatorship.

Background

Considering the atrocities the clerics ruling in Tehran have committed in the last four decades, some question whether Iran was better off during the Shah’s reign. However well-intentioned, these voices are ignorant of what brought about the Iranian revolution and why it turned out the way it did.

While the Iranian people want to see the ruling theocracy overthrown, they do not want to return to the past, evident in one of the popular chants in different protests in the past three years, “down with the oppressor, whether the Shah or the Leader (Khamenei)”.

In truth, Khomeini was the rightful heir to the Shah. Half of a century of absolute repression under the Pahlavis destroyed any chance of democracy taking shape in Iran. Democratic movements and organizations were decimated by the Shah’s notorious secret police, SAVAK.

Thousands of dissidents languished in prisons under torture. So, when the Shah was overthrown, Khomeini and the mullahs stepped into a power vacuum. The crown was replaced with the turban.