How did the unthinkable Iranian revolution become inevitable?

Protests across Iran have revived claims that the Islamic Republic is facing its greatest test yet. Let's look back at the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and explore why revolutions defy prediction.

Following the 95 hours of total media blackout, videos began to surface showing bodies in black bags piled on top of one another, while people walk past them with blank faces. My Iranian friends still cannot reach or speak to their families back home. Can you imagine? In this day and age.

Iranians have been protesting since the last days of 2025, with demonstrations spreading to more than 70 locations. What began in places like the Grand Bazaar, initially sparked by everyday economic shocks, the sudden collapse of the currency, the price of basic goods such as eggs reportedly jumping by 300 percent in a single day, scale shifted, to borrow the language of contentious politics, into a nationwide revolt. It now involves all segments of society, though it is driven above all by the young, teenagers from 15 upwards, who have taken to the streets fully aware of the risks involved.

Iranian people, whom I believe to be among the bravest and most dignified, have taken to the streets again, know…