![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2253457183_f3342a.jpg\")
\n A large anti-Israeli banner portraying an image of a Palestinian fighter and the slogan \u201cEndless Voice of Resistance\u201d in Persian and Hebrew is erected in Palestine Square in Tehran on Dec. 31, 2025.\u00a0Photo: Atta Kenare\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n
For more than a week now, protests over the cost of living and skyrocketing inflation have rocked the streets of Iran. While the protests are the largest such movement against the government since protests over the death of Mahsa Amini<\/a> in police custody in 2022, they\u2019ve been smaller so far, despite reports of demonstrations in at least 78 cities already. While protests over the dire state of the economy are not unusual, these protests have begun amid a new push by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for another war with Iran over its ballistic missile program. The explosion of attention has been emanating almost entirely from Washington and Tel Aviv, where powerful interests were hoping from nearly the first day of the protests that the overthrow of the Islamic Republic <\/a>was finally at hand.<\/p>\n Israeli opposition leader Naftali Bennett, who has oftentimes encouraged Netanyahu to be even more confrontational on the regional stage, sent out a video<\/a>, spoken in English but subtitled in Farsi, encouraging \u201ceach and every\u201d Iranian to go out and create a \u201cbetter Middle East,\u201d and saying \u201call the nations of the free world\u201d stand with them. Both the Israeli science minister<\/a> and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham<\/a> donned black \u201cMake Iran Great Again\u201d hats for the cameras in their respective countries. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also lent his support, posting to X<\/a> what appears to be an AI image of a statue of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei crumbling before a hangman\u2019s noose.<\/p>\n Despite the assessment<\/a> of Israel\u2019s own intelligence services that the current protests do not currently threaten the Iranian government\u2019s existence, some American media outlets are eager to embrace Israel\u2019s narrative that the end is nigh. The New York Times claimed<\/a> the Islamic Republic is in \u201csurvival mode,\u201d and that Khamenei is already planning to escape to Moscow, as Bashar al-Assad did <\/a>in 2024<\/a>. Similar rumors abounded<\/a> in Iranian opposition press in 2022 that officials were looking to create an escape route to Venezuela and were leaving in droves in anticipation of the fall of the regime.<\/p>\n Israel had previously attempted to directly instigate a rebellion during its war against Iran in June, with Netanyahu making a speech<\/a> encouraging the Iranian people to \u201cstand up and let your voices be heard,\u201d framing its military bombardment<\/a> as a means to \u201c[clear] the path for you to achieve your freedom,\u201d and cravenly invoking the phrase \u201cWomen, Life, Freedom\u201d from the Amini protests<\/a>. <\/p>\n Numerous Iranian opposition figures who had previously insisted they would never back foreign military intervention, such as the son of the late Shah Reza Pahlavi, suddenly echoed similar statements, and called for the Iranian people to rise up at the Islamic Republic\u2019s weakest point. No protests materialized whatsoever \u2014 let alone a rebellion that would take down the state \u2014 but the taboo of supporting Israel\u2019s project in the region by the Iranian opposition abroad had been broken at the highest levels. Now all that remained was to somehow get the people being bombed on board with supporting the people doing the bombing.<\/p>\n While the actual level of Israeli intelligence penetration into the protests is unclear (Iranian police claim<\/a> to have arrested a Mossad agent who was being directed from abroad), it\u2019s clear the Israeli state and its allies fully intend to portray a significant level of involvement. Whatever concerns that may have existed in years past among Western governments about discrediting protests by supporting them too publicly, such as with Barack Obama and the Green Movement protests in 2009, have been thrown entirely to the wayside.<\/p>\n After previously insisting<\/a> he would refrain from speaking about the protests to not give \u201cthe Islamic Republic an excuse to target Israel,\u201d Netanyahu decided only days later to offer his total support: \u201cThe government of Israel, the State of Israel, and my policy: We identify with the struggle of the Iranian people, with their aspirations for freedom, liberty and justice.\u201d Israel\u2019s Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli further called<\/a> on Israel to \u201cback [the protesters] up\u201d and said the \u201csupport of the State of Israel is also important\u201d to guarantee the success of the movement. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who forged a close relationship with Netanyahu, went even further, posting on X<\/a>, \u201cHappy New Year to every Iranian in the streets. Also to every Mossad agent walking beside them.\u201d <\/p>\n The Mossad, Israel\u2019s foreign intelligence service, for its part, publicly claimed<\/a> it was already operating within the protests, stating the day after protests began on December 29, \u201cLet\u2019s come out to the streets together. The time has come. We are with you. Not just from afar and verbally. We are with you in the field as well.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019re independent of corporate interests \u2014 and powered by members. Join us. <\/p>\n Join Our Newsletter <\/p>\n Thank You For Joining! <\/p>\n \n Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you. <\/p>\n Will you take the next step to support our independent journalism by becoming a member of The Intercept?\n <\/p>\n By signing up, I agree to receive emails from The Intercept and to the Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Use<\/a>.<\/p>\n The intent of these moves is undeniably coercive, rather than the selfless assistance it portrays itself as: If we are already claiming you as Israeli agents, it would be no small step if you collaborated for real. Such collaboration need not happen in darkened alleys or via clandestine networks; during the war in June, the Israel Defense Forces\u2019s Farsi-language account directed Iranians who \u201cwant to improve [their] situation\u201d to simply contact the Mossad on its website (while using a VPN for safety, of course).<\/p>\n Although far away from Iran\u2019s borders, the recent abduction of Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> has also sent an explicit message to the Iranian government as the protests continue, with Trump personally promising<\/a> military intervention if Iranian protesters are shot dead (as of this writing, at least 19 demonstrators have been killed, along with two members of security services). To double down on the threat, the State Department\u2019s Farsi-language social media posted a black-and-white image of Trump<\/a> overseeing the Maduro raid, with the caption emblazoned in red: \u201cDo not play with President Trump.\u201d If such a thing can happen with the president of Venezuela, surely such a thing can happen to the Ayatollahs or any other official in Tehran.<\/p>\n While certain personalities in the Iranian opposition abroad have welcomed this message, observers both inside and outside the country should take careful note of what has happened in the aftermath of Maduro\u2019s ouster. Opposition figures hoping to take power in Caracas have suddenly been sidelined, and America has instead promised a regime of explicit coercion and outright resource extraction<\/a>. When journalists pressed Trump about free elections, Trump responded plainly<\/a>, \u201cWell, it depends\u2026 We\u2019re going to have to have big investments by the oil companies\u2026and the oil companies are ready to go.\u201d This worldview isn\u2019t limited to what is happening on Venezuela\u2019s shores\u2014the implication is that they could come to Iran\u2019s just as quickly.<\/p>\n
\n Become a member
\n <\/a><\/p>\n
\n Become a member
\n <\/a><\/p>\n