Asphyxiate Tehran's brutal regime

Authoritarian regimes have two key qualities. One, lack of proportionality - when the state responds to dissent, or even minor infractions, with overwhelming force. Two, a 'whatever it takes' strategy to keep itself in power. The Iranian regime ticks both boxes, with vicious aplomb. While Tehran puts its spin on the country spinning out of control - blaming 'terrorists' for the reported thousands killed - it is too early to be as optimistic as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz who, from Bengaluru, said on Tuesday that the government is in its 'final days and weeks' because 'if a regime can only keep itself in power by force, then it's effectively at the end'. Granted, the turmoil is far more severe than ever before. But Iran has also been 'here' before in 2019 and 2022.

Angst that began in Tehran's bazaars on December 28 has been fuelled by a growing economic crisis, especially after a crash of the Iranian rial and soaring prices, made worse by US and EU sanctions. Iran's supreme bigot Ali Khamenei has predictably pulled out the usual rabbits out of his hat: foreign meddling, and recalling the (genuinely populist) 1979 Iranian revolution. What is chilling is how despite an internet blackout, Iranian authorities have broadcast images of bodies as 'fair' warning to its own citizens of the consequences of protesting.

Iran's misogynistic, oppressive, brutal regime has ridden out decades of pushback with an iron hand, and is once again devouring its own citizens. The latest violence may well be a tipping point. But for that point to tip, external help through diplomatic squeeze, not a gung-ho intervention, to asphyxiate a brutal regime is needed. Even geopolitical 'realities' must have a red line for friendly countries like China. And India.