Reactions to Assad's Fall: Khamenei Will Face a Similar Fate

The fall of Bashar Assad's regime in Syria has sparked widespread reactions among Iranian social media users, with several political figures and analysts pointing to his fate and asserting that the dictatorial governments, including the Islamic Republic and its leader Ali Khamenei, are destined for the 'dustbin of history.' Among them, Amir Etemadi, an opposition political activist, emphasized on social media platform X that 'Assad the murderer and his regime have joined the dustbin of history' and 'Khamenei and his regime will face a similar fate.' Hamed Ismailioun, a well-known human rights advocate, stated that Bashar Assad 'committed crimes for years' and 'killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians,' adding: 'The Islamic Republic has supported him and his bloodthirsty father for decades. It poured billions of dollars of Iranian people's wealth to keep him in power. With the help of criminals like Qassem Soleimani in the massacre of the Syrian people, it is natural that this domino of downfall will pave the way for Tehran. The future of Ali Khamenei is evident.' He expressed hope that 'Bashar Assad, the butcher of Syria, will one day be brought to justice before the people of that country and face the consequences of his actions.' A group of users also reacted humorously and sarcastically to Assad's fall. For instance, Ali Karimi, a prominent and popular Iranian football figure and an opponent of the Islamic Republic, shared an image of Zainab Soleimani and, alluding to her hope for 'revenge' for the removal of Qassem Soleimani by the Islamic Republic's proxies, referred to Assad's fall: 'Uncle Bashar is gone too! Comment the remaining uncles for Zainab.' Journalist Hediyeh Kimiaei noted that with Assad's fall, 'the cry of freedom has echoed in Damascus,' stating: 'Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Russia, and now Ali Khamenei and his pond remain.' Reactions to the fall of Bashar Assad's regime in Syria have also reached political prisoners in Iran. According to Saeed Afkari, on Sunday, December 18, his family was able to visit his brother Vahid Afkari, who was 'overjoyed with the fall of Bashar Assad's regime.' He reported that Vahid's joy was such that 'his smile did not leave his face until the last moment of the visit.' Saeed Afkari also reminded that 'my brother Vahid Afkari has been in solitary confinement for 1556 days since September 6, 2020, when he, along with Navid and Habib, was beaten by prison guards.' Asghar Sepehri, a civil activist whose brother and sister, Mohammad Hossein and Fatemeh Sepehri, are also well-known political prisoners opposing the Islamic Republic, referred to the issuance of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for the Prime Minister of Israel, stating: 'Now that Bashar Assad has fallen, Karim Khan, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, can issue an arrest warrant for Assad as well, to make it seem that the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were issued impartially!' Journalist Moloud Hajizadeh emphasized that 'the images and news of prisoners being released from Assad's prisons are astonishing' and added: 'People who had been missing (abducted) for years or those who were thought to be dead or killed. With Khamenei's fall, what will we see from the prisons of the Islamic Republic!' Atena Daemi, a human rights activist, also referred to the release of 'thousands of prisoners' from Syrian prisons following Assad's fall, stating: 'Bashar Assad killed thousands to maintain power, kept his opponents in prison for many years, and displaced thousands of Syrians, but ultimately fell like other dictators.' Daemi, who had previously spent years in the Islamic Republic's prisons, wrote on social media platform X: 'I eagerly watched the moment the prison doors opened and prisoners were freed, and I couldn't help but remember the days when we in prison were waiting with all our being for our prison doors to one day open at the hands of the people, and we would all be free together.' She emphasized: 'A day not far off, we will also celebrate the fall of the Islamic Republic. The day when Ali Khamenei and the perpetrators of all the crimes of this regime will be tried, and our long-cherished dream of freedom will come true.' Najat Bahrami, a journalist, also stated following Assad's fall: 'Repressive regimes become more vulnerable with external defeats, and the Islamic Republic is now a defeated, impoverished, and discredited government. We must emphasize a national revolution aimed at establishing freedom and equal rights for every citizen of Iran, both to bring down this government and to avoid becoming like Syria, Libya, and Iraq.' This political analyst also stressed: 'Let us not forget that the other edge of the downfall of governments and the removal of statues can be chaos and civil war. The nature of Iran is different from Syria, and everyone must be careful that political projects and project-takers from foreigners do not lead minds to dangerous models and patterns. We must fight the Islamic Republic and also protect the integrity of our country.' Hossein Ronaghi, a political activist in Iran, also referred to Bashar Assad as a 'bloodthirsty and ruthless dictator' in Syria, stating that his fall is 'a great lesson for all authoritarian governments' and said: 'The Islamic Republic has sacrificed Iran and its people's financial resources to preserve this dictator under the pretext of defending the shrine. Tens of billions of dollars of Iran's national wealth that could have been spent on developing the country's infrastructure and improving the economic and social lives of the people were spent on creating a nation, warmongering, and supporting government crimes that had no connection to Iran's national interests.'