Despite easing down, sporadic protests have been ongoing across Iran and have been widely energized by words and support from President Donald Trump – and the hope for more substantial support. Despite its vast oil and gas resources, the Iranian economy is in shambles. More than three decades of rule by the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) has not only failed to achieve the security and well-being of its people, it has ensnared the nation in a stifling theocracy where the rights of the governed are routinely violated for the benefit of the governing. The revolution of 1979 that brought down Mohammad Reza Shah in the hope of instituting a democratic government was quickly usurped by a religious autocracy. For the past 40 years, the Islamic Republic’s response to the legitimate peaceful protests and demands of the people has been an iron fist in the form of heartless beatings of the demonstrators -- both men and women -- there have been arrests, torture, and...(Read Full Article)