Iran stands at a historic crossroads, engulfed in the largest anti-regime protests since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Sparked by catastrophic economic collapse and decades of entrenched corruption and repression, these uprisings mark the terminal decline of a theocracy that prioritized proxy wars over its people’s survival. From Tehran to Mashhad, ordinary Iranians—bazaar merchants, students, women, and workers—have rejected the mullahs’ rule, chanting for freedom and an end to 47 years of clerical tyranny. This is no fleeting unrest; it’s a revolutionary fire exposing the regime’s hollow core. Economic Catastrophe: The Spark That