By Ali Zeraatpisheh
From east to west, north to south, Iranians from every walk of life filled the major squares and streets in Tehran and other cities, reaffirming their unwavering support for the Islamic Republic and its foundational tenets and rejecting foreign-backed plots.
People waved the tricolored flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran, holding aloft portraits of its founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, as well as the martyrs who laid down their lives for the country.
With one collective voice, they proclaimed: “We will continue the sacred path of the Revolution. We honor the great memory of Imam Khomeini and will safeguard his legacy by following the guidance of his righteous successor, Ayatollah Khamenei.”
But what brought millions of Iranians into the streets on that day? What prompted them to renew their pledge of allegiance to the Islamic Revolution?
Was it to confront the age-old enmity of Anglo-Saxon imperialism and its regional proxy – the “rabid dog of the Middle East,” the Zionist regime? Or was it to defend the Iranian nation against the treacherous plots of misguided rioters, hell-bent on destruction and indiscriminate killing in pursuit of dismantling the rule of law that governs the Islamic Republic?
The events of the past few weeks were far more insidious than any previous attempts by the West and the Zionist entity to foment chaos in the country in order to realize the long-cherished goal of “regime change” in Iran.
As the people of Iran described it, it was the “thirteenth day,” a reference to the 12-day war imposed on the country by the Israeli regime and the US in June last year, which was also part of the same “regime change” project that has failed multiple times over the years.
If the 12-day war represented the outward manifestation of Western and Israeli hostility toward Iran and revolutionary tradition, the “thirteenth day” was a far darker affair – an internal plot driven by spies linked to the US and Israel, aimed at continuing the war from within.
The unrest began when shopkeepers in commercial districts across the country staged peaceful demonstrations to protest the devaluation of the rial against the US dollar. These demonstrations, however, were hijacked by paid rioters and terrorists.
The rioters and terrorists falsely claimed they were fighting for Iran’s freedom, conveniently ignoring the reality that since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iranians have consistently participated in a wide range of democratic exercises – from elections to town councils to the presidency, and ultimately the Leadership of the Islamic Revolution.
Armed with automatic assault rifles, handguns, and explosives supplied by Israel and the US, they carried out ruthless attacks on police officers, security personnel, and even innocent bystanders. The victims included hundreds of ordinary citizens, including women and children, from a nurse in Karaj to a three-year-old girl in Kermanshah.
This grim toll revealed that, alongside their unfettered cruelty, these foreign-backed terrorists shared another trait with their Israeli and American patrons: a willingness to kill without reason, especially when it came to women and children.
Beyond the senseless loss of life, the terrorists targeted the very heart of Iran’s Islamic and Shi’a identity. Mosques, hosseiniyahs, and other sacred structures were burned and desecrated.
An extensive array of public and private property was destroyed – banks, government buildings, bus stops, cars, public vehicles, ATMs, ambulances, to name only a few.
Even hospitals and clinics were not spared. Rioters barbarically stormed these sanctuaries of healing, terrorizing patients and, in several instances, killing and injuring doctors and nurses.
While the government refrained from intervening during the initial peaceful demonstrations, the escalating terrorist violence forced it to act – not only to halt the destruction of public and private property, but also to protect the lives of ordinary citizens and restore law and order.
Within days, police and intelligence agencies, aided by vigilant citizens, identified and arrested several Israeli-linked groups responsible for transforming peaceful protests into a violent insurrection. The Israeli-American-backed riots subsided as swiftly as they had erupted once their ringleaders were exposed and detained.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution, however, recognized that the remaining terrorists and their Western and Israeli sponsors required a response stronger than arrests or warfare. What was needed was a renewal of the sacred bond between the Islamic Republic and its people.
So, on January 12, the nation rose as one against the enemy and its wicked schemes.
Regardless of internal political or ideological differences, millions of Iranians took to the streets, pledging solidarity with their government to resist the machinations of the West and the Israeli regime, and to follow the path of the martyrs.
People proved that they might have concerns over economic issues and rising inflation, but they will never allow external hostile forces to hijack their legitimate demands.
The people of Iran – like in June last year – gave a decisive and fitting response to the enemy.
Ali Zeraatpisheh is a Tehran-based writer and research scholar.
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