Let The Ayatollah Fall On His Own

Overt American involvement will poison the well of whatever comes next.

Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran on January 9, 2026. The nationwide protests started in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar against the failing economic policies in late December, which spread to universities and other cities, and included economic slogans, to political and anti-government ones. (Photo by MAHSA / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

We’ve seen countless waves of protest in Iran over the years that get certain political actors in the U.S. all hot and bothered about the regime falling, and it never does.

This time looks like it might be different, though. The uprising has been going on for a period of weeks now, and only appears to be growing. It’s beyond dispute that the regime has opened fire on nonviolent demonstrators — some reports claim that the number of deaths is in the thousands — though it’s hard to discern just how bad things are because the government is blacking out the internet and controlling information flow.

The Iranian regime is evil, anti-American, and bad for the world. People of upstanding character should be rooting for the imminent collapse of the Islamic Republic and its replacement by something better — but we should also be wary of the U.S. getting in the mix and screwing it up.

There are a few factors to consider here.