I understand the frustrations, but sacrificing our long term objectives by some short term emotive knee jerk reactions will not do us any good.
Their hatred for the Islamic Republic has taken over their sense of patriotism, let alone their rationality.
When after such an event, all you do is to post comment after comment of the most spiteful and virulent kind against the Iranian leadership for its supposed "passivity" towards such acts of terror (which remain largely inconsequential in the big picture, as yourself and PeeD correctly highlighted),
while at the same time refraining from uttering a single word of anger, rage or disgust at the despicable perpetrators who, it shall be reminded, are no less than existential enemies to the Iranian nation and people - exactly like their predecessor, the British empire, which back in the day proceeded to murder off some 50% of Iran's population, then there is something seriously wrong with your sense of "patriotism".
Especially when in the same breath, you either:
A) Harbor sympathies for the ousted monarchy, whose fully fledged submission and servitude to zionist and US imperialists is an undisputed fact of history.
B) Sport as your profile picture a photograph of a Prime Minister who after trying to rise up to the same US imperialists, did not manage to complete his first term and was overthrown by a CIA-orchestrated military coup.
C) Pander to and join the barandāz oppositionist crowd. A crowd in whose midst one will have a particularly hard time finding a single political grouping, organization, leader or personality that does not wholeheartedly volunteer to bow down to Tel Aviv, Washington and even Riyadh as of late.
So this begs the question, who exactly does this category of users hope to convince with its narrative? On the one hand, they will claim to be upset by a supposed weakness in the IR's response to specific attacks, and they will use this opinion to justify their "regime change" stance. On the other hand however, they will remain oblivious to the fact that there exists no eghtedār gerā, no anti-imperialist, no anti-zionist element whatsoever among the entire range of exiled anti-IR oppositionists.
In other words, among all conceivable political alternatives to the Islamic Republic, none would strive for regional or global influence, none would even remotely envisage to put up any sort of a Resistance against zionism or US-led imperialism.
But the prospects of a downfall of the IR are far bleaker even: not only will Iranians have to forget about any sort of Resistance in such a horrible event, in fact they will have to say goodbye to Iran as a unified, stable nation-state as well as to its territorial integrity.
When it comes to the Iranian opposition, other than openly anti-Iranian currents like "ethno"-separatists or takfiri groups, practically everyone claims to be "patriotic" if not "nationalistic". Yet in most cases, this is but an empty claim, a formal convention, a facade deprived of substance.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi presented his regime as a nationalistic one, while allowing zionists and Americans to completely undermine Iranian sovereignty. So does Reza Diba the crown (clown) prince, while holding meetings with "ethno"-separatists, promising the "ethnic" federalization (read: dismantling, balkanization) of Iran and candidly announcing that to him the ideal economic program in a post-IR Iran would consist in exporting nothing but oil and importing everything else, in perfect conformity with destructive zionist designs for Iran.
D) Have carefully dissimulated sympathies for the zionist regime, i. e. do not even subscribe to the very premise of the IR's adversarial stance towards the latter.
When you qualify for one of the above, you are frankly in no position to point accusatory fingers at the IR's leadership and lament (or feign to lament) a supposed "lack of fortitude" on the IR's part with regards to its imperialist foes.
Because in reality the IR has not only been engaged in a protracted, full spectrum, 40+ year existential confrontation against these world-devouring superpowers, in spite of a huge power differential to her disadvantage (at least when it comes to the classical criteria and resources of power), and has actually been one of the very few nations on Earth to dare go down that blessed but incomparably arduous road.
People claiming to be patriotic can no longer invoke excuses for such attitudes, no matter how extensive the criticism one may legitimately direct at Iranian decision makers. Which is not to say that every comment published here to that effect is even rational or factually accurate. Take talking points like "the Islamic Republic only values survival" for instance - if this is not demagogy, I don't know what is. When your enemies goal is to annihilate you, surviving already equals defeating your enemy.
The notion that the IR lacks a "grand strategy" or is "content with the status quo" in spite of zio-American acts of terrorism and aggression is no less inoperative. Because it obfuscates what goal these pressures exerted by Iran's enemies are supposed to serve: namely, the destruction of the Iranian nation consecutive to "regime change". Considering the above, it is naive to imagine that the Iranian leadership will passively look on while the enemy works towards eradicating it (as well as its nation).
Another outlandish claim made was that the Supreme Leader "behind the scenes" is "in agreement with the Rohani administration" over the JCPOA. To support this claim, the Leader's initial acceptance of the JCPOA (through his concept of heroic flexibility) is cited, but everything else he has said on the agreement, particularly after Trump's arrival at the White House, is ignored. Needless to insist, this claim could not be farther removed from reality.
Pretty much the same goes for the contention (relentlessly rehashed by propaganda outlets such as the BBC and co) that the conception of Sino-Iranian relations put forward by revolutionary factions in Iran can somehow be compared to the liberal factions' defeatist, subordinate attitude towards the west, when in fact this represents a clearly erroneous analogy. Indeed, revolutionaries advocate a partnership on equal footing with Beijing and / or Moscow, as opposed to the liberals, ready as the latter are to turn back the clock by reinstating pre-revolutionary conditions of outright serfdom vis a vis the west.
Of course, some will not miss the occasion to extrapolate in order to conveniently but randomly throw in some worn out accusations of "omnipresent corruption" that the enemy's psy-ops operators (Manoto, BBC, Saudi International etc) are already busy shoving down the throats of their brainwashed audiences. As if corruption levels in Iran even came close to the systemic, foundational, all-encompassing corruption prevailing in the inverted-totalitarian order of western so-called "democracies".
I had amply addressed these issues in the past, but will gladly return to do so again provided I have enough time at my disposal. Because voluntary and involuntary echo chambers of anti-IR propaganda concocted by existential enemies need to be dampened if Iran is to survive.
As said, all too often rationality and even common sense are thrown over board in situations like these. And this should cease once and for all.
Of course not many among those with the required composure, sufficient knowledge and clear-sightedness, are going to be convinced by emotive outbursts from users who, owing to their biased and often irrational approach (mostly grounded in a profound personal dislike or hostility towards the Islamic Republic), end up aligning on positions and pushing views that will only serve Iran's enemies.
Enemies whose sights are set not just on the IR, but on the Iranian nation in its entirety - exactly as their wrath was targeted not just at Saddam but at Iraq as a coherent and stable nation; not just at Gaddafi but at Libya as a coherent and stable nation; not just at Assad but at Syria as a coherent and stable nation, etc. And this very much includes the mass of oppositionists misled by the dominant anti-IR discourse, none of whom are going to be spared by the cataclysmic calamities guaranteed to befall Iran in the event that the Islamic Republic was to be overthrown.
