REVOLT IN IRAN – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  You'd never know it from the mainstreamers, but there have been small revolts in Iran since December.  There are reports that some have been growing in recent days.  Now, our secretary of state is responding.  From Fox: 

As protests continued for a third day in the southern Iranian city of Kazerun, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted his support for the protesters in that country.

Pompeo, who is due to give his first major policy speech on Iran next Monday, tweeted, “We support the Iranian people who are demonstrating against an oppressive government. Three deaths and internet interruption show the regime’s true nature."

Following Pompeo’s tweet, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio followed suit.

Iran analyst Benham Ben Taleblu, a research fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News that “Secretary Pompeo’s tweet is spot-on. At every juncture, the Islamic Republic continues to prove that it does not care about the interests or well-being of the Iranian people.”

Ben Taleblu continued, “I hope concrete actions in support of the freedom of communication for the Iranian people, and against the interests and assets of the regime, complement the Secretary’s tweet.”

Lisa Daftari, an Iran affairs expert and founding editor of The Foreign Desk, said it was significant that the secretary of state would tweet out such a message.

She said: “For almost four decades Iran’s people have believed that any political movement, including regime change, would have to be supported by the West. For that reason, statements made in support of recent protests, including Pompeo’s tweet, cannot be underestimated.”

COMMENT:   When the Iranian people rose up in 2009, it took Barack Obama four days to shuffle to a microphone and vaguely suggest some general support for democracy.  The press, of course, gave him a pass.  After all, revolts in Iran were beneath the great thinker.

Now times are different.  We look forward to Secretary Pompeo's Iran speech.  May the Europeans be thoroughly irritated.

May 19, 2018