The fuse is lit

By Kirollos Abdala —

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has gone into deep hiding (not in his bunker). Russians have been told to evacuate. Jets were reported flying overhead of Tehran and other Iranian cities, presumably in defense against imminent attack. A senior Iranian diplomat has quit the regime in Switzerland and applied for asylum. Major airlines have canceled flights into Iran, Israel, Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The tinderbox of the Middle East is about to go up in flames.

As of Friday, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, sailing straight from the South China Sea, arrived to striking distance.

Meanwhile, China in supporting Iran; it sent some 20 cargo planes loaded with God knows what (potentially all kinds of weapons). China already lost the cheap oil it was getting from Venezuela and doesn’t want to lose the cheap oil from Iran because then it won’t know where to get oil from.

Yeah, Khamenei, maybe you shouldn’t have threatened Trump so directly as to say on Jan. 15 that the bullet wouldn’t miss next time (a reference to the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania). Right after you mouthed off, Trump started talking about regime change.

Trump re-posted his message to the Iranian uprising, “Help is on its way.” Previously, he had told protesters to take control of their institutions — but then did nothing. (Maybe he was buying time to get the flotilla near enough to do the job in one blow.) His repost yesterday recommits.

Meanwhile, Trump announced mass deportations from America of Iranians associated with the regime starting Sunday. Under Biden’s open borders, it is feared that active jihadis embedded themselves into America as sleeper cells waiting to strike from within.

Will Trump still allow Khamenei escape to Moscow or China to live the rest of his old, infirm age in retirement? Will the Iranian people be able to form a new, legitimate government in his absence? Will the Iranian military, which has largely not participated in the killing ofr 30,000 Iranians (that was done by some 5,000 foreign jihadis imported in), turn against the regime finally and be part of the solution?

After three weeks on unabated uprising, Iranians finally retreated to their homes, not giving up but waiting for the right moment to return, only when the Islamist regime sent military grade machine guns mounted on vehicles into the streets.

Senior diplomat Alireza Jeyrani Hokmabad, seeing the writing on the wall, already made his bid for life. He defected in Geneva yesterday.

The only question now: Is the fuse a slow burn or a quick burn?

Related coverage of Iran: One-fourth of Iran watched Christian TV during martial law curfew, What’s going on in the streets of Iran? Here comes Nuremberg Trials, No Appeaser in Chief, Leftist go MIA on support of the Iranian people, here comes the cavalry charge Sources: Iran International, Tousi TV, others.