Trump Urges Iranian Protests, Forgets His Own Sanctions
Donald Trump, as reported by The New York Times, has once again urged Iranians to keep up their 'antigovernment protests,' echoing a sentiment oft-heard from American leaders who suddenly champion human rights only when it aligns with geopolitical interests. This convenient concern ignores the fact that his 'maximum pressure' campaign, including sanctions on critical sectors like banking and oil,
devastated Iran's economy and its people. This specific playbook, 'fomenting unrest through economic strangulation,' is a familiar tune, previously sung in Libya (2011) and Iraq (2003). One might wonder if Mr. Trump's sudden empathy extends to lifting the very sanctions that impoverished millions, or if 'freedom' is merely a euphemism for 'regime change preferred by Washington.' The same media
outlets that cheer these calls rarely delve into the historical pattern: US-backed interference rarely ends in democratic utopias, but frequently in power vacuums and prolonged suffering. It appears some protests are more 'legitimate' than others, especially when they serve the strategic aims of a former president and his allies.