[FFA Editor's note: Statement on Video Retraction 1/18/26
This video (https://www.filmsforaction.org/.../us-and-israel-support.../) contains genuinely valuable perspective—exposing Trump's brazen regime-change cheerleading, the crippling role of sanctions in fueling economic desperation, and Mike Pompeo's revealing tweet wishing "Happy New Year to every Iranian in the streets, as well as to every Mossad agent walking alongside them."
Unfortunately, it misrepresents the complexity of the situation, framing the protests as purely a US/Israel-armed "insurgency" while glossing over their organic roots in spontaneous bazaar strikes against skyrocketing inflation and the regime's brutal neoliberal shock therapy that's left millions in poverty.
I've trusted Geopolitical Economy Report for years as a reliable source, and this is the first time their coverage has disappointed. Given the video doesn't meet our standards, I'm retracting it.
The first article I shared captured the sheer horror of the crackdown—hundreds to thousands of protester deaths verified by groups like HRANA and Amnesty, mostly unarmed people gunned down for demanding economic security and dignity (https://www.filmsforaction.org/.../only-the-iranian.../). But this drew criticism for failing to mention foreign interference and exploitation of the protests by US and Israeli powers seeking to install a Western-backed puppet.
The second piece (https://www.filmsforaction.org/.../six-points-to.../) attempted more nuance, acknowledging that legitimate protest grievances were being exploited by foreign powers and providing historical context, but it still drew fire for insufficiently condemning the Iranian regime.
Sifting through the propaganda flood from all directions to find reporting that holds the full complexity without collapsing into binaries has been genuinely difficult. But I believe this piece nails it:
**"Defeating Dictatorship and Resisting Imperial Interference: Dual Challenges of Iran's Protest Movement"**
https://www.filmsforaction.org/.../defeating.../
Drawing directly from Iran's Tudeh Party (the historic communists) and other leftist voices inside the country, it condemns the regime's corruption and economic sabotage while rejecting US threats and intervention as a deadly trap.
A key line: "The popular protest uprising... is not a creation of US imperialism... but the direct result of the disastrous economic policies" that have pushed tens of millions below the poverty line.
Iranian leftists like Tudeh, the Worker-Communist Party, and Revolutionary Marxists are clear-eyed: These are class-driven explosions—workers and youth rising against austerity and dictatorship—but they're vulnerable to monarchist nostalgia and foreign meddling. Their call? Nationwide general strikes, soldiers breaking ranks to join the people, and zero tolerance for external powers turning tragedy into proxy war.
We can oppose the massacre and demand justice for the dead *and* reject sanctions or intervention that only amplify suffering for ordinary Iranians caught in the crossfire. True solidarity means amplifying Iranian voices calling for their own path to self-determination, free from both authoritarian rule and imperial meddling.
I expect this fourth article will draw criticism too—it seems impossible to cover this topic without objection. If you know of a good video or article on the subject, I welcome you to share it with us via the Contact page.]
The US government is openly backing the protests in Iran. An Israeli media outlet admitted foreign powers are arming Iranian rioters with weapons to try to overthrow the government. Ben Norton explains the geopolitical context and why the USA has sought regime change ever since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.