You're absolutely right that I have mixed feelings and am conflicted, I would love to say with 100% confidence that "Iran is different" but I can't.

Part of the protestors anger is impoverishment caused by sanctions, it was certainly a big factor in this protest and at least a minor factor in every other protest.

But conversely these protests are also fueled by discontent with the treatment of women.

They're also fueled by the thirsty people who are suffering from poor water management policies that ignored traditional irrigation methods in favor of the western approach of spraying huge amounts into the air to grow water hungry crops in a famously water scarce region. Fuck even Israel was egging on the protestors with the promise of sending water experts once the regime is gone.

I'm not supporting America invading but I do think that there are real humanitarian issues that need to be addressed.

What upsets me most is not that the rest of the world is silent and only "brave and compassionate" America is speaking against them, its that the Iranian people only have America to turn to, that the only countries that are "on their side" (from the view of the public) are America and Israel.

This regime is so quick to label any unrest in the country as foreign meddling but they themselves are the cause for half of the problems.

(also thank you for engaging me in good faith)

Nobody here is claiming that a US intervention would make things better, I think the point here that lying about the situation in Iran and Eastern Ukraine only helps the violent fascists in power in those places.

The nuance is that workers are being slaughtered by Putin and Khamenei and defending them just because the US doesn't like them is only helping the fascists.