Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Da Silva: What is happening in Gaza is not a war, it is a genocide
Da Silva: Even the Jewish people do not want this war; it is revenge by a government against the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state
Brazilian President Lula da Silva: What we are seeing is not a war between two armies. [What we have is a] completely professional army that is killing women and children in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas: We affirm our readiness to immediately begin a round of indirect negotiations to reach an agreement on the points of contention
Hamas: We welcome the continued Qatari and Egyptian efforts to end the war waged by the Zionist occupation against our people
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Israeli occupation forces blew up Noura Al-Kaabi Hospital, designated for kidney dialysis patients, in the northern Gaza Strip
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Israeli drone targets a car on the Ayta al-Shaab-Debel road in southern Lebanon
Yemeni Armed Forces Spokesperson Yahya Saree: The remaining airlines that have not yet complied with the ban are urged to take this into serious consideration to ensure the safety of their aircraft and passengers
Yemeni Armed Forces Spokesperson Yahya Saree: The YAF, after successfully imposing a partial ban on air traffic at Lydd Airport, are now working to impose a full ban on air traffic at the aforementioned airport in the coming period
Yemeni Armed Forces Spokesperson Yahya Saree: YAF's UAV Unit carried out three military operations targeting three vital Israeli sites in the occupied Palestinian areas of Yafa, Isdud, and Umm al-Rashrash, using three drones

Pressing the “riot” button in Iran: The US and Zionist role

  • David Miller David Miller
  • Source: Al Mayadeen English
  • 6 Oct 2022 20:29
  • 15 Shares
8 Min Read

What is behind the riots and protests in Iran? Is this an organic “uprising” or are there external geopolitical actors at work?

  • x
  • Pressing the 'riot' button in Iran: The US and Zionist role
    Pressing the 'riot' button in Iran: The US and Zionist role

According to prevailing Western wisdom, Mahsa Amini was “murdered” in “police custody” after being savagely beaten in a police van. In reality, as quickly released CCTV footage showed the young Iranian-Kurdish woman collapsed after a conversation – involving no violence, with a female police officer inside the police station.  

She was then attended to and taken from the police station to a waiting ambulance. Photographs of her in the hospital show no apparent head injuries and later medical staff released CT scans showing no recent injuries, though confirming that she had brain surgery some years previously.

But the allegation that she was killed or murdered was the apparent spark used to whip up a frenzy of anti-government propaganda and reporting. Demonstrators have taken to the streets, in many Iranian cities, and protests in support have erupted in the UK and elsewhere. 

Who pushed the “riot” button?

But who pushed the “riot” button and why? 

The CIA and the US government are a one key actor. The US government was frustrated that its demands were not met in the Vienna negotiations on the so-called “nuclear deal” in late August, and also acted in response to the effective use of Iranian supplies of drones to help the Russians to defeat the NATO proxy war in Ukraine.

The US immediately activated its assets and agents to foment subversion. This involved direct attacks on the police and other security services – with eleven killed in the first ten days of protests, including four police/security officers - as well as extensive attacks on ambulances that appear to have been directed externally. On October 1, there was an armed terror attack on a police station in the city of Zahedan, there were 19 deaths including four IRGC officers; 32 IRGC members were also wounded. Are these the tactics of supporters of “women’s rights”?

Unsurprisingly both the National Endowment for Democracy - known as the “CIA-sidekick” - and the Open Society Foundations of George Soros advertise that they are active in relation to Iran.* Both engage in attempting to foment regime change in Iran as they do elsewhere. Soros, for example, stated in 2014 at the time of the US-directed Euromaidan coup that “I set up a foundation in Ukraine before Ukraine became independent of Russia. And the foundation has been functioning ever since. And it played a — an important part in events now.”

Geopolitical actors at work

In addition to the US, a range of geopolitical interests are lined up against Iran including US proxies. These include firstly far-right supporters of the former Shah of Iran who have paraded themselves in demonstrations around the world with their monarchist Iranian flag featuring a lion. A second group is the Mujahideedn e-Kalq (alternatively known as the People's Mujahedin of Iran, and the National Council of Resistance of Iran). It was regarded as a terrorist organisation by the US until delisted after a successful lobbying effort in 2012. In April 2021, Facebook took action against the MEK troll farm based in Albania (a NATO member), but it still appears to be operational. 

Islamophobic attacks

Related News

Witkoff’s proposal and the position of the Palestinian Resistance

Colombia's Silk Road turn: Breaking the chains of US hegemony

Attacks on worshippers at a central London Mosque used by many Iranians (many not supporters of the Islamic Republic) by monarchist and MEK demonstrators highlighted the Islamophobic nature of the groups. Another Islamophobic group was also prominent in London demonstrations – the Council of Ex-Muslims - led by a bare-breasted Maryam Namazie. Namazie, formerly of the Worker-Communist Party of Iran, is involved in a variety of Islamophobic groups in the UK such as the National Secular Society. Saudi Arabia has its own input via its troll farms and its own propaganda TV channel, Iran International, which has been pumping out lies about recent events.

The Zionist regime in action

However, the most important actor involved, apart from the US, is the Zionist regime. The official Twitter account of the regime openly states it “stands with” the protestors and launched a cynical “Remember Mahsa” campaign featuring Israeli settlers claiming to “stand in solidarity”. “Israel” funds key US lobby groups pushing for more sanctions on Iran including the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). FDD is a “leading neoconservative think tank”, which functions “as an agent of the Israeli government”, as was revealed in Al Jazeera’s investigation on the US-Israel lobby.

Another group, United Against Nuclear Iran, is stuffed with Zionists. Both groups are clearly assets of the so-called “state of Israel”.  

Meanwhile, "Israel" continues to directly support and utilise Kurdish separatist groups which are currently engaged in subversion and terrorism against Iran. So, we see that both the US and "Israel", via assets, agents, and proxies come together to push the “riot” button in Iran. 

The Obama playbook

For some insight on how the US thinks about such operations, one can listen to former US President Obama effectively laying out the US strategy for subversion in Iran. “You just have to flood a country’s public square with enough raw sewage. You just have to raise enough questions, spread enough dirt, plant enough conspiracy theorizing that citizens no longer know what to believe. Once they lose trust in their leaders, in mainstream media, in political institutions, in each other, in the possibility of truth – The game is won”

Of course, Obama was formally talking (from 31.10) about Putin (and indeed Trump strategist Steve Bannon), but it’s clearly a close account of how they try to effect change.

Say her name: Masih Alinejad

Not coincidentally the self-proclaimed “leader” of the protests also lives in the US - in an FBI safe house in New York. But who is Masih Alinejad? On Twitter, she has more than half a million followers and more than 8 million on Instagram, but she describes herself on her profiles only as an “Iranian journalist and activist,” or as a “journalist”.

In reality, Alinejad works directly for a US government propaganda operation called Voice of America. At VoA she has presented a programme for the last seven years on VoA’s Persian service and according to public records has received over half a million dollars in government contracts since 2015.

In addition to these roles, Alinejad is the founder of two campaigns White Wednesdays which encourages the wearing of white headscarves, and My Stealthy Freedom. Both claim to be focused on the hijab and women’s rights in Iran. But Alinejad is not centrally concerned with reform in Iran but with increasing sanctions and promoting regime change. She has called for “death to the dictator”. When she appeared on CNN recently her remarks were not about the hijab but about pressuring the US not to make a nuclear deal with Iran and instead increase sanctions. “Stop negotiating with our murderers, cut off all ties with the Islamic Republic”, she demanded. 

Evidence from inside Iran suggests that, through her and others, the Obama playbook is guiding the “protests”. For example, listen to the testimony from a protestor arrested for petrol bombing an ambulance: “They were saying: Security forces use those ambulances. Since Masih Alinejad and other people were saying it so many times on the internet and other networks, I thought to myself it must be true”. 

Alinejad’s views suggest an alignment with extreme Zionist positions. Add to that her links with Key Zionist lobby groups in the US: In June this year, she received a so-called “moral courage” award from the extremist American Jewish Committee a group with a long record of Zionist advocacy.  

Alinejad was also booked to speak at the conference of United Against Nuclear Iran in September this year. UANI is a hardline US-based group which has had a former director of Mossad on its advisory board.  

Masih Alinejad is one of many vehicles for the US and "Israel" to undermine the Islamic Republic of Iran, not least because of its steadfast support for the Palestinian liberation movement and the axis of resistance more widely.

________________________________________________________________________________

 *Disclosure: David Miller has in the past received research funds from the Open Society Foundations for work critiquing Islamophobia and counter-extremism.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • United States
  • Mahsa Amini
  • Iran
David Miller

David Miller

investigative researcher, broadcaster, and academic. He is the founder and co-director of the lobbying watchdog Spinwatch and editor of Powerbase.info.

Most Read

All
Although the background information does not indicate direct US involvement, considering the broader geopolitical context, it is plausible that the US would have an indirect impact. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

Did 'Israel', US fight a proxy war with China in South Asia during the India-Pakistan escalation?

  • Feature
  • 19 May 2025
It may well be due to the longstanding relationship between MI6 and HTS, via Inter Mediate, that Britain was the first Western country to recognise their assumption of government in Syria. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

How MI6 helped HTS seize Syria

  • Opinion
  • 31 May 2025
The two countries need to sit down and resolve the crisis with maturity, to consider carefully that they could be being manipulated to be easily dominated. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Algeria and Mali, divided and almost conquered

  • Opinion
  • 25 May 2025
Trump and Biden both pretended to be fighting Netanyahu

Trump and Biden both pretended to be fighting Netanyahu

  • Analysis
  • 28 May 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

More from this writer

All
"Israel" appears to be the only place in the world where there are actual demonstrations defending rapists as national heroes precisely because of their crimes. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

'Israeli pride' - Celebrating rape in the Zionist entity

While Salams is intended to be for Muslims seeking marriage, the other companies owned by Match Group are seen as encouraging casual relationships like OK Cupid and Tinder. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Selling Muslim marriage app Salams to the Zionist pornography complex

David Collier is the Zionist troll operative behind the intimidation of the BBC resulting in the removal of the Documentary How to Survive in a War Zone. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

The pincer movement against the BBC

Palestine Solidarity Campaign shills for the Zionists

Palestine Solidarity Campaign shills for the Zionists

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS