Iraq now vs Iraq post military intervention in the ensuing years, the rise of ISIS, and the ongoing destabilization of the region is my point.
I don't like the Islamic Republic. But do I wish war on the families living there? And what is the likelihood of something even worse rising there if a power vacuum with no clear goals is created in its stead? I'd say "very high", giving recent history.
Can you, in full honesty, tell me how much you know about Iran? You (and some others in the comment section) seem to only extrapolate from Iraq, a country with a completely different culture, economy, and sequence of events/trajectory etc.? This is quite concerning to say the very least.
You are aware that you are comparing a situation that arose from a US military invasion (Iraq), with a grass-roots, cross-class and cultural movement that is being supported across the world (Iran)? You are aware that, for the first time, Iranians across Kurdistan, Zahedan, Tehran, Baluchistan are chanting the same slogans under the same values, fighting the same enemy? And yet you speak of "no clear goals" and "very high likelihoods", but it sounds like you are simply ignorant of the situation. The protests are not the result of foreign meddling, but rather the result of millions of Iranians with the agency and awareness to realize their situation is horrendous and existential, and they need to take a stand. Why? Because they are already at war. Having your child hung from a crane in public is war. Having your daughter raped and killed is war. Having your life savings taken from your is war.
I am both an Iranian (with family in Iran) and a "Westerner", and I damn well implore all of my peers to support and amplify the voice of Iranians without feeling bad about whether they are encouraging "societal collapse" (an absurd argument). Supporting Iranians that have made their voices heard, shed blood and tears is not "foreign interference" or "wishing war", it is empathy and camaraderie for your fellow human.
On a final note, the regime is not reformable. This means if me or someone else says "Iranians deserve democracy" or "human rights", this implies that one supports the collapse of the Islamic Republic. Why? Because one can not happen without the other. Ultimately, their fate is in their hands, but it is absolutely idiotic to sit here and gate-keep people from wishing the collapse of a psychopathic, murderous, raping, and looting regime.
Well, you could have opened with this. If you have family in Iran and still wish for collapse, you have something important at stake and understand the risks (or so I hope).
I was initially responding to someone who didn't identify as Iranian and who was wishing for collapse.
I don't like the Islamic Republic. But do I wish war on the families living there? And what is the likelihood of something even worse rising there if a power vacuum with no clear goals is created in its stead? I'd say "very high", giving recent history.
Lessons learned, right?