“Iran is a country. The Islamic Republic is an occupying force. The Islamic Republic has nothing to do with Iran or Iranians.” I’m not sure who said this first or where I first read it, but it summarizes how Iranians feel about the Islamic Republic: a theocratic regime governed by a select few who have ruined one of the wealthiest countries in the world to the point that red meat has become a dream.For Western audiences, the phrase “occupying forces” is not unfamiliar, yet it is usually associated with experiences from World War II and the Nazis. People typically expect occupying forces to be a foreign army occupying another land. How can Iranian forces occupy their own country?On June 14, 1940, the Nazi swastika flag was hoisted over the Eiffel Tower. This was a sign that the German military had officially occupied Paris. On June 4, 2026, Tasnim News Agency, a Revolutionary Guard-affiliated media outlet, posted a video on its X account showing a massive 500-meter flag of Lebanon’s Hezbollah hoisted above Tehran’s iconic Azadi Tower. There are 85 years and 355 days between these two events; however, the concept and the message of both are the same: your land (France during WWII and Iran today) is occupied by terrorist groups.