Pompeo affirms U.S. support for 'courageous' Iranians as uprising met by grisly crackdown

Opponents of Iran’s theocratic regime have long predicted — wrongly — that the regime’s collapse was imminent.

But violent protests against the government rocking more than 100 Iranian cities in recent weeks, coupled with Washington’s rising economic and military pressure against Tehran, appear to be shaking the Islamic republic’s leaders at a level not seen in years.

Many analysts warn that the regime’s grip on power remains solid and capable of crushing a sustained uprising, but the Trump administration is eager to seize on the unrest, which some Iranian exile groups claim is far wider in scope — and deadlier — than Iran’s leaders have acknowledged.

Four days after asking Iranians to send information about the uprising via the encrypted Telegram messaging service, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that U.S. officials had received thousands of notes, including grisly videos depicting horrific crackdowns by authorities across Iran.

“We have received to date nearly 20,000 messages, videos, pictures, notes of the regime’s abuses,” Mr. Pompeo told reporters at the State Department. “We will continue to sanction Iranian officials who are responsible for these human rights abuses.”

The secretary of state stopped short of calling outright for “regime change” in Iran. Instead, he offered the following message: “To the courageous people of Iran who refuse to stay silent about 40 years of abuse by the ruling regime, I say simply this: The United States hears you. We support you and we will continue to stand with you in your struggle for a brighter future for your people and for your great nation.”

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