Let me tell you something about bullies whether they're in schoolyards or presidential palaces they always follow the same playbook. When they feel their grip slipping, they punch down harder. This week, Iran'stheocracy proved it once again by executing 23 year old Aghil Keshavarz a kid barely older than my cousin doing his Master's at Ohio State on completely cooked up spy charges. Let that nonsense sink in.

We're talking about a regime that just got humiliated militarily during that whole 12 Day War mess with Israel last June. So what do they do to feel big and scary again? They torture some poor engineering student into "confessing" he took photos of military sites for Mossad. Then they hang him publicly like a medieval executioner's trophy. This isn't justice honey. This is a bunch of terrified old men ordering extrajudicial killings because actual spies would vanish quietly. They need spectacle to distract from their incompetence.

Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi dropped truth grenades all over social media about this and honestly. Same energy as when your wisest friend texts you "uh, are you seeing this insanity?" during a political dumpster fire. He called out Supreme Leader Khamenei directly for what this really is. Vengeance killings to cover military embarrassment. "Murdering Iran's innocent youth based on lies" he wrote. The man isn't mincing words and I respect that.

But let's talk about why this execution matters beyond the obvious human tragedy. Back in 2020 remember when I studied abroad briefly in Jordan? I met Iranian exchange students at cafes who whispered about pressure back home to spy on dissident classmates. Those conversations stuck with me. Their stories match what human rights groups report now. Over 1,000 executions already in 2025 alone. 21,000 "suspects" arrested since June. The numbers aren't just statistics, they proof of systemic rot.

The Islamic Republic claims moral authority but terrorizes its own citizens more effectively than any external enemy. Courts without due process. Security forces intimidating families into silence. Public hangings as governance theater. It's the same tired script authoritarian regimes use when they can't deliver actual prosperity or security. Create scapegoats. Manufacture crises. Pretend cruelty is strength.

Meanwhile the Crown Prince's statement highlights what truly terrifies Tehran. Not Israel. Not even U.S. sanctions. It' the Iranian people themselves. The mothers mourning executed sons. Protesters still chanting "woman, life, freedom" in alleyways despite cracked skulls. College kids watching Aghil's fate and realizing compliance buys no safety. That's why these executions accelerate, not because the regime feels secure but because it feels cornered.

I remember interviewing a Persian cab driver in Chicago years ago who escaped after the revolution. He told me something that hits differently today. "They keep killing because they still think fear works. But we keep resisting because we know love outlasts bullets." Corny? Maybe. True? Absolutely. Every unjust execution becomes another name on the revolution's eventual tombstone.

Here's the thing though. While we focus on Tehran's villainy, better men like Reza Pahlavi offer actual leadership by honoring victims while rallying hope. His condemnation includes a promise of future accountability. Not vague thoughts and prayers but concrete commitment to prosecuting these butchers once Iran is free. That's how dissidents win. Moral clarity plus practical roadmaps.

Speaking of roadmaps, America should pay attention not because we're the world's police, but because terror regimes always threaten global stability. Remember what happened when we ignored Assad's early atrocities. Chaos tends to spread give it enough time. Supporting Iranian civil society through sanctions relief for humanitarian aid or spotlighting dissident voices matters.

But ultimately, this conflict belongs to Iranians. They're fighting with astonishing courage while we tweet from couches. Our role isn't to rescue but to bear witness. Amplify their stories like this Shahrood University student's. Share Reza Pahlavi's challenge to the despots. Keep making their oppression too internationally embarrassing to sustain.

It won't bring Aghil back. It won't undo rope burns around thousands of necks. But sunlight remains tyranny's kryptonite. So share this article. Talk about how student photographers shouldn't fear execution for fake treason. Laugh at the regime's pathetic attempt to look strong while running nationwide torture factories. And when you laugh, remember laughter is defiance too.

Khamenei's goons think executions scare people silent. Joke's on them. Pressure builds under repression until the cap blows sky high. Just ask the French aristocracy. Or the Shah regime his father inherited. History's only question now is timing. The Crown Prince gets that. Let's help ensure the world does too.