‘Welcome to Our Party’: Iran’s Parliament Speaker Sends Message of Trump’s Downfall After No Kings Protests

The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, responded to the “No Kings” protests held in the US and Europe against Trump and the war in Iran with a message paralleling the protests to the overthrow of the Shah in Iran in 1979. Ghalibaf stated in a post that the protesters “welcome to the party we started 47 years ago,” implying that the demonstrations against Trump could be a springboard for a change of power in the US, just as the 1979 revolution led to the fall of the Shah. Ghalibaf’s message is seen as a challenge to Trump and an expression of optimism for the possibility of a political change in the US that could benefit Iran. The reference to the overthrow of the Shah is particularly significant, as the 1979 revolution marked a radical change in Iran’s political and social structure.