{"id":342579,"date":"2026-02-14T15:56:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T14:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=342579"},"modified":"2026-02-14T15:56:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T14:56:58","slug":"editorial-iran-has-entered-a-point-of-no-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/editorial\/editorial-iran-has-entered-a-point-of-no-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Editorial: Iran Has Entered a Point of No Return"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Iran-2026
Iran-2026 nationwide-protests<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What is unfolding in Iran is not a passing wave of protest. It is a mature phase of confrontation with the entire system of Velayat-e Faqih. A point of no return has been reached. The struggle has moved beyond temporary crises and beyond disputes over policy. The target has been defined as the structure itself.<\/p>\n

Until recently, the dominant assumption among global powers was that the clerical regime was stable and that collapse was not realistically expected. That assumption has been weakened. The discussion of collapse has entered open political language. A shift in understanding has been signaled by steps such as the European Union\u2019s move toward classifying the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC<\/a>) as a terrorist organization after the brutal suppression of protests. A different reality has been recognized: the regime\u2019s condition has deteriorated, and its survival has become increasingly dependent on raw force.<\/p>\n

Two central questions are therefore posed. First, by what mechanism is regime change achieved? Second, by what prerequisites can a peaceful and democratic transfer of power be secured, and can such a transition be realized at all?<\/p>\n

On the first question, one option has been closed by society itself. Change from within the regime has been rejected. In the 2017 protests, the reform illusion was declared finished by the slogan: \u201cReformist, hardliner\u2014the game is over.\u201d Another option has also been rejected by experience. Foreign military intervention has not been shown to produce democratic change. Airstrikes can damage infrastructure, but a regime is not overthrown by missiles, and legitimacy is not built by bombardment.<\/p>\n

A single practical path remains: overthrow by the people themselves, joined to organized resistance. Difficulty is not denied. Cost is not minimized. Yet feasibility has been demonstrated. The most recent uprising has shown how mass protest, when connected to an organized and determined force, can challenge the repressive apparatus and raise the price of repression.<\/p>\n

This uprising has been driven by accumulated anger, political awareness, and historical experience over 47 years. A final conclusion has been reached: the problem is not a faction but the entire system. The material causes have been visible and persistent: economic collapse; inflation that, by the regime\u2019s own figures, has approached 45 percent; widespread poverty; and chronic water and energy crises. No solutions have been produced by the ruling establishment, and deterioration has continued day by day.<\/p>\n

A defining feature of this phase has been the simultaneous participation of different social groups. The spread of protests to 400 cities\u2014by the regime\u2019s own representatives\u2019 admission\u2014has revealed a qualitative breaking point in the relationship between society and the ruling structure. The distance has widened into a rupture.<\/p>\n

Most decisive, however, has been the role of organized forces, especially the youth and the PMOI Resistance Units<\/a>. Scattered protests have been linked into a nationwide movement. Initiative has been seized from the repressive apparatus in various places. Suppression has been made more costly. The answer to the question of \u201chow\u201d has been placed in plain view: the overthrow of this regime is achieved when popular uprising is fused with an organized network capable of sustained action.<\/p>\n

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How economic protests in Iran morphed into regime-change demands in January 2026<\/div><\/div>
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