I lived in the region when it happened. People were literally fleeing Iran in terror, trying to get their extended families out of Iran before the crackdown. They opposed the Ayatollah, others did too, but couldn't get together as a group to oppose the revolution once it started in earnest. By late 79 we had to leave the Gulf & return to USA because Iran was targeting Americans. Our DoD school was routinely receiving bomb threats, etc.

People my age & younger didn't vote for that shit - they were young teens back then, and the ones I knew were very westernized. I still know a couple, and they're American citizens now. Have been for over 30 years. Very successful in their careers, one on an International level in economics & one in high-level banking. Another I know defected to NZ and is a very gentle soul, a wife, mom, and grandmother.

I do have sympathy for the Iranian people. The Revolution ruined my life, and I was just an American kid living in the Gulf who had a home & family in USA to go home to - but it hit at the worst possible time for a Junior in HS. Everything I knew was disrupted, scattered to the winds. Never got records from my school, made it impossible to just "pick up where I left off" once I got back home to USA. Couldn't play sports due to eligibility requirements (and I was active in several) and the culture shock was a factor. Went from an International school to a small-town private academy in the Deep South. People had never heard of the country I'd basically grown up in, had never traveled Europe or anywhere else for that matter, I had a 'weird accent' from years of travel and living overseas. Not easy for a teenage girl to handle/process on her own, and I had no support from mom. She legit had other stuff to deal with. Much more happened within my family after we returned Stateside that disrupted my life...anyway, it was a 25 year struggle for me to set things right and it was a helluva fight, let me tell ya. I finally did it, so there's that.

But to the point: I support Iranian people who want change. Many of the ones fighting for it are children of the friends I used to know long ago, who opposed the regime change in 79 but were too young to do anything about it.

Real lives were and are affected by the murderous regime, even people like me who aren't Islamic nor Iranian, but whose lives were thrown into chaos.

There are real people dying for a chance at Freedom and as an American, I have to support that. Freedom is really all we have in this world - everything else goes away at some point, but Freedom should be ours from the cradle to the grave. Like Hong Kong, they deserve to be free and they're fighting for it. I can't help them, but I can support them & pray for them to succeed.

We may have our own fight soon, for all we know. The violent Left - commies, fascists, whatever the hell they are - may force us to fight for Freedom in the near future. So yeah..I support anyone who wants to be Free & is willing to fight for it.

edit: spelling