Tipsheet

You Won’t Believe Who Just Cheered Iran’s Islamic Revolution

The United Nations has congratulated the Iranian regime on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, showing exactly why nobody takes the international organization seriously.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres sent an official letter to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian offering “warmest congratulations” to the government and people of Iran. He framed the anniversary as a national day for reflection on the nation’s “historical journey” and its role in the international community. 

Guterres called for more dialogue, multilateral cooperation, and a renewed commitment to peace, sustainable development, and human rights.

Meanwhile, the Iranian government has slaughtered thousands upon thousands of Iranian citizens who took to the streets to protest against the regime’s policies and human rights abuses.

Tehran was happy to receive Guterres’ bootlicking letter and gladly used it as propaganda, portraying the message as evidence of international approval for the Islamic Republic, according to Iranian media.

The Islamic regime that Guterres saw fit to praise has a long and bloody history. It came to power after the U.S. and British governments orchestrated a coup against Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953, which restored the shah to power.

The shah lost power after radical Islamic factions joined with communists and other opposition groups to overthrow the monarchy in 1979, with the aid of the U.S. government under President Jimmy Carter. It didn’t take long for the Islamic regime under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to seize control of the government and then crush its former communist allies. 

Once the Islamic Republic established itself, it began morphing into a machine of oppression. It executed thousands of political prisoners in the 1980s and dissolved secular and leftist parties like the Tudeh. It empowered security services and courts that routinely used torture, arbitrary imprisonment, and show trials to wipe out dissenting voices.

The government does not allow opposing voices to flourish and has instituted a strict form of Islamic Sharia law on the populace. Women, in particular, are treated as second-class citizens, forced to wear hijabs or face beatings and even killings.

Today, the Islamic regime under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has massacred thousands of Iranians simply for protesting against the government’s policies.

The unrest, which began in late December, shows just how dissatisfied Iranians have become with their government. People are risking their lives to oppose the tyranny they have lived under since 1979. The fact that the United Nations thought it was a good idea to praise the Islamic Republic is precisely why they are not to be trusted.