Unprecedented protests are taking place across Iran, both in the number of people participating and the number of cities where the demonstrations are occurring. Countless videos have documented Iranians protesting. And it’s growing. The reason is the compounded suffering to which Iranians have been subject under the Islamic Republic, and which hopefully is at the breaking point. 

The Iranian rial is at its lowest point in history. Today, one million rials is worth less than $1. The economic impact is widespread, punishing, and impacting every single Iranian. 

This is the impact of the ayatollahs stealing billions from Iranians to fund their jihadi goals, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and others, around the world. Yet the policy of financing the world’s largest terror network has come home to roost. 

For months, Iranians have also suffered an unprecedented water and energy crisis, leading to power outages across the country, and reservoirs so low that there has been talk of evacuating millions from Tehran due to the inability to provide water. 

Even if they were not living under a brutal, evil Islamic regime for nearly five decades, Iranians collectively are suffering the most they have since then, the cumulative impact of the evil regime focusing on spreading extremist Islam, fighting the West, and mismanagement and corruption of every basic need. 

But Iranians are not just living under widespread mismanagement; they are living under the cumulative national disaster of millions having been arrested, beaten, tortured, murdered, and disappeared. My knowledge is firsthand, growing up and spending most of my life there, but also being arrested and sentenced to death, held in the notorious Evin prison for nine months, all because of my faith in Jesus. 

The drought has not only exposed incompetence and mass mismanagement of basic needs.  As reservoirs have dried up, 74 bodies have been found just in one location, bound, at the bottom of the once life-giving bodies of water that are all but gone, and which became their victims’ graves.  Being bound shows an extra level of evil that they were thrown in alive rather than executed elsewhere, and thrown into the water to hide the Islamic regime’s crimes. 

There have been protests in the past over the murder of Mahsa Amini in 2022, and more recently, truckers have gone on strike in 160 cities due to massive increases in prices.  For a variety of reasons, these protests did not cause the regime change for which most Iranians are praying. 

Iranians are having it no more. The current protests are because all Iranians are hurting economically and are unable to meet the basic needs to live.  The current crisis has exposed new depths of the evil of the Islamic regime.  More than ever, and more publicly than ever, Iranians are chanting for the restoration of the Pahlavi dynasty, and in favor of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and the death of the ayatollahs.

It’s a formula that will hopefully bring the pressure needed for the regime to fall and Iran to be free. 

But pressure is also needed from the world because the threats are directed at the world. We even heard from the “moderate” Iranian president this week that Iran is at full-scale war with the US, Israel, and Europe.  

At the same time that Iranians are risking their lives just to protest, it was encouraging to hear President Trump speak out in favor of renewed military action against the regime, and particularly the brutal IRGC. In the wake of the 12-day war between Israel and the Islamic Republic in June, standing next to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Trump stated that he supports renewed military action against Iran if it tries to rebuild their ballistic missile or nuclear program.  

Rather than pretending that the Islamic regime will ever negotiate for anything in good faith to make a deal, other than to keep itself alive and in control of Iran for another day, Iranians know that what’s needed from outside is unrelenting destruction of the regime, its leaders, its military, and even if necessary its ability to fund itself through oil exports and more. Iranians are prepared to suffer more if it means their eventual freedom. 

ButtThe United States needs to lead the charge, along with Israel, the EU, and even the Saudis, Emiratis, and other Arab states, to bring down the regime. Iranians pray for that outcome. They were frustrated, even feeling abandoned, when the 12-day war in June didn’t result in the regime’s destruction, or at least provide Iranians with the cover they needed to act and bring it down themselves.

The Islamic Republic has created unprecedented suffering for Iranians and millions of people worldwide. This suffering extends beyond its targeting of Israel and the Jewish people, as the regime has also infiltrated the West, developing nations, and much of the Arab and Islamic world. In fact, it’s difficult to find a place in the world that hasn’t been impacted by the consequences of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Accordingly, people and nations across the world must unite with a singular purpose: to end the Islamic regime and bring Crown Prince Pahlavi to power, restoring the once-thriving nation that Iranians yearn for.  No single act, certainly since the end of World War II but arguably ever, has the potential to eliminate the suffering of millions and bring peace. 

President Trump likes to speak of making deals. The truth is, the best deals to be made are after the Islamic regime falls, and Iran begins necessary reconstruction. The US can play a huge role in that, bringing prosperity to Iran and peace to the world. Israel can also play an essential role by rescuing Iran with its world-leading water reclamation and desalination abilities, filling up the reservoirs, and bringing the Iranians hope and life. 

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Marziyeh Amirizadeh is an Iranian American who immigrated to the US after being sentenced to death in Iran for the crime of converting to Christianity.   She endured months of mental and physical hardships and intense interrogation. She is the author of two books (the latest, A Love Journey with God), public speaker, and columnist. She has shared her inspiring story throughout the United States and around the world, to bring awareness about the ongoing human rights violations and persecution of women and religious minorities in Iran, www.MarzisJourney.com. 

Marzi is the founder and president of NEW PERSIA whose mission is to be the voice of persecuted Christians and oppressed women under Islam, expose the lies of the Iranian Islamic regime, and restore the relationships between Persians, Jews, and Christians. www.NewPersia.org.