US News Metro Long Island Politics

Sports NFL MLB Olympics NBA NHL College Football College Basketball WNBA

Business Personal Finance

Entertainment TV Movies Music Celebrities Awards Theater

Lifestyle Weird But True Sex & Relationships Viral Trends Human Interest Parenting Fashion & Beauty Food & Drink Travel

Health Wellness Fitness Health Care Medicine Men’s Health Women’s Health Mental Health Nutrition

Science Space Environment Wildlife Archaeology

Today’s Paper Covers Columnists Horoscopes Crosswords & Games Sports Odds Podcasts Careers

Email Newsletters Official Store Home Delivery Tips

Switch between CA and NY editions here.

Iran’s fate belongs to Iranians — not the West —and it’s now or never

The Western media keep asking whether “regime change” in Iran has failed. That question is not only premature when it comes to the war in Iran, but also mistakenly assumes the outcome will be decided by the West. It won’t.

The U.S. and Israeli military operation has materially changed the equation on the ground. It has degraded the regime’s repressive infrastructure, disrupted its communications, and stripped its ability to coordinate violence against its own population.

For decades, the principal obstacle to a grassroots Iranian uprising was not a lack of will but the asymmetry of force between a population determined to fight for its freedom and a security apparatus built specifically to quash it. That asymmetry is narrowing.

But leveling the playing field is not the same as winning the fight. That part belongs to the Iranian people. The West can create the conditions. Only Iranians can create a country.

In January, millions of Iranians took to the streets knowing what it would cost them. More than 30,000 were killed. Over 330,000 were injured. That was not even the beginning of their revolution, but the continuation of one built on decades of repression.

Populations do not absorb casualties at that scale for a cause they are willing to abandon easily.

I have been researching and reporting on Iran for over two decades. The question I keep hearing from Western media is whether anyone can say with confidence what Iranians want. I can.

Despite Internet blackouts, isolation, and the very real threat of death for speaking out, the Iranian people have told their story clearly and repeatedly, at........

© New York Post