In my piece from yesterday on the decline of Europe and the rise of freedom fighters in Iran, I said that the one thing missing this time around among Iranian demonstrators is fear. They don’t have it, and they are fully aware of their brutal regime’s history and what it’s capable of.
Today’s news only reinforces this as the demonstrations are transitioning into a full-blown revolt. Is a revolutionary war on the horizon? Who knows? But if you look at Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion and apply it to a geopolitical situation like this, it’s not off the table.
Newton said, “An object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction, unless acted upon by an unbalanced external force.”
Count on the Iranian regime to apply that force. Expect shock-and-awe. The protestors and agitators know this. And still, they are plowing forward in the face of it.
So far, eight people are dead, while the protests have now stretched to 44 cities and 19 provinces. For context, the country has 31 provinces.
As our own Rick Moran reported, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social earlier today that, “If Iran sho(o)ts 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.”
The last thing the Iranian regime needed was the American president interjecting himself and his country into a situation that seems to be losing its grip already. Now the regime has to consider the consequences of Trump, even if it mostly believes these are empty threats coming from the White House. He’s giving them pause, and that’s the last thing the regime needs before it sets out to quell the demonstrations.
Iran’s Parliament speaker responded by saying that, according to Fox News, American “forces and bases in the region would be considered ‘legitimate targets’ if Washington intervenes in the country’s ongoing political unrest.”
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made his comments after 5 days of growing demonstrations throughout his country.
It’s difficult to get solid, verified information on what’s happening on the ground, so a group called the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has emerged to fill that void. It reports that, “What began earlier in the week as an economic outcry in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, sparked by the collapse of the national currency and soaring inflation, has evolved into a volatile confrontation across the country’s residential sectors and provincial capitals.”
NCRI says that Iran’s official security apparatus “is struggling to contain a movement that has transitioned from strikes in commercial centers to what witnesses are describing as widespread urban warfare. The unrest has been particularly intense in Lorestan and Fars provinces, where funeral ceremonies for protesters killed in previous days became the focal points for renewed anti-regime demonstrations.”
As Rick wrote: “The problem in the past has been the NCRI’s internal squabbling and its failure to unite the numerous anti-regime factions to represent a united front against the government. As far as I can tell, they have a long way to go in that regard.”
Still, the X platform and other social media have also filled the void created by the lack of good, credible news coverage.
Pulitzer Prizes have been awarded to journalists and photographers from war zones for the power and influence of a single image or a specific story, and this is the case in Iran. While you can try to find a story in the data surrounding the number of protests and protestors, the real story comes through when you see one video clip of a defiant young woman taking off her hijab, knowing – KNOWING – she may be executed for doing so.
A brave woman in Iran publicly removes her hijab, defying her country’s oppressive Islamic regime that kills women for not wearing it.
This is true empowerment, unlike modern feminists in the West who defend Islamist rapists like Hamas.pic.twitter.com/uUxzT9pPvW
— Dr. Maalouf (@realMaalouf) January 2, 2026
Bravery and courage can be as contagious as fear, and right now in Iran, among these protestors, bravery is winning.
Despite attempts in the West to play it down, current protests in Iran are extremely serious & growing. Signs that this may turn into the most serious revolt since 1979. Protesters are taking the most dire risks and deserve our moral support against the terrorist ayatollahs. pic.twitter.com/8yXpNdwAox
— Rɪᴄʜᴀʀᴅ Kᴇᴍᴘ ⋁ (@COLRICHARDKEMP) January 2, 2026
NCRI reports that on day six of the protests, the unrest has spread “beyond the central market districts into major residential neighborhoods. Despite extensive measures by the regime to prevent assemblies, residents in Naziabad, Khaksefid, Narmak, and Tehranpars took to the streets.”
The organization described this as a sign that the country’s security forces are quickly losing control in the country’s capital city.
Message from Iran:
This is Marvdasht. People are in the streets. The Islamic Republic is brutally cracking down.
With every young person the Islamic Republic kills, our anger grows stronger.
We must win, otherwise Khamenei will slaughter us all and hang us.
Let the world hear our… pic.twitter.com/7zEAPKNAst— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 2, 2026
As I wrote yesterday, this feels different. Then I realized it doesn’t feel completely different. I can remember the dominoes falling in Berlin just before the wall came toppling down, and this does feel like that to me.
People are chanting things that could get them killed: “Down with Khamenei” and “Death to the dictator.”
Iranians in occupied Iran are burning down religious institutions because they’re sick of Sharia Law.
Meanwhile terrorists in western countries are complaining about “Islamophobia” 😂😂😂
Burn it all down.
Destroy the cancer once and for all.
Iran is not a Muslim country. pic.twitter.com/o0ZyX5kMXg
— Goldie Ghamari | گلسا قمری (@gghamari) January 2, 2026
Protestors are blocking roads, throwing stones, and setting fire to police vehicles in many towns.
All of this is happening while the exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of Iran’s former shah, stands in wait. It’s been 46 years since the Islamic Republic took control. The younger generations have had enough, and it’s like they see a light at the end of this tunnel if only they can get through it. It’s not assumed that the crown prince will be the leadership beneficiary of any of this, but the important thing is that serious public dialogue has commenced about what life in Iran will be like after the current regime has been toppled.
Iranians won’t stop risking their lives for freedom.
Burning images of Khamenei is punishable by еxеcution.
Tell me if you hear from any big media outlets how the good people of Iran are fighting against the occupation of the Islamic Regime.
And if you don’t, tell me why not. pic.twitter.com/IGZLP3DsXC
— dahlia kurtz ✡︎ דליה קורץ (@DahliaKurtz) January 2, 2026
The revolt in Iran is heating up, and we already know who the U.S. would like to see succeed now that there is no one in the Oval Office named Biden or Obama. While I don’t expect Trump to push for boots on the ground, he’s unlikely to take a chip like that off the table. He’s got a lot of tools at his disposal if he needs them, and Tehran knows this. The one nagging feeling I’m getting after six days of watching this is that it’s not likely to end the way it has before, with strong-armed suppression and then silence. The people have decided they will not be ignored, and with a little help, they won’t be. I actually think it’s time to start talking seriously about what Iran may or should look like after the current regime is gone.
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