Iran’s Revolutionary Guards brutally cracked down on the protests — and will wield power going forward.
By
“How long should we watch with tears and regurgitate our own blood while we practice ‘democracy’ laden with chaos and insults?” Those words were written by members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 1999, part of an open letter to reformist President Mohammad Khatami urging him to reconsider his “inaction” against student protests.
Fast forward to today, amid the deadliest anti-government unrest in the country since the 1979 revolution, and the balance of power has shifted: the Guards are firmly in control, and have dropped any pretense of deference toward elected officials.
