Aidin Panahi | آیدین پناهی

One of the things the data analysts on our side obsessed over was "composition"—whether the electorate looked close enough to 2024 for Republicans to win. And despite polls that showed a Democrat blowout, the data kept on telling us the same story: in some states turnout was merely OK, in other states it was downright amazing, and in no state was it catastrophic. There was a genuine sense of optimism on our team: our people were showing up. So, I asked the smartest data guy I know, does that mean we're going to shock the world? "No," he told me. "We might do better than the polls suggest. But the data is telling us that a lot of Trump/Vance 2024 voters are pissed and planning to vote for the other guys. Our voters are turning out, but they may not vote for us." Well, that looks prophetic now. Our voters did show up. In Florida, for example, the electorate was 9 points more Republican than Democrat, just a couple points worse than 2024. Undoubtedly there were places we could have done better on turnout. But the main problem is not turnout. The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026. There will be a lot of infighting and arguing over what happened and why that is. One of the pollsters I really respect told me that our economic messaging wasn’t sharp enough down the stretch. I’m sure that’s true. But the real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone. Another pollster—one of the smartest people I know in politics, told me yesterday we’d lose the generic ballot by 13 points. I felt negative going into Tuesday, but even I was shocked by this. In his polling, he saw that a lot of Trump 2024 voters were angry and planning to vote for Democrats. He asked those voters who had abandoned us what would cause them to come back on our team. The top four answers, accounting for nearly all of the responses were: 1) End the war 2) Focus on cost of living/inflation 3) Put America First 4) Change our relationship to Israel Our voters showed up. And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats. This is according to a pollster who nailed the results. While many spent Monday attacking Rachel Campos Duffy for calling for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, it turns out her political advice was sound. (She’s also a great person.) In the next few months, there's going to be a lot of gaslighting. Expect to hear any number of establishment politicians say the solution to our woes is amnesty. I'm open to the idea that we should change enforcement—by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labor, for instance. But anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you. The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night. If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that's at least honest. But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there. I remain hopeful about our country. To the people who are pissed off and want to say, “I told you so”: you’re right, you did tell us so. Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview. To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be. Let’s take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country.

هم‌میهنان عزیزم، به بروکسل آمده‌ام تا پیام و خواست شما را به گوش رهبران، قانون‌گذاران و افکار عمومی اروپا برسانم، صدای ملتی که شجاعانه و استوار در برابر سرکوب و خشونت جمهوری اسلامی ایستاده و تسلیم این رژیم جنایتکار نشده است. جمهوری اسلامی در تازه‌ترین کارزار دروغ‌پراکنی خود تلاش کرد با انتشار اطلاعات نادرست، مانع پیوستن شما به بات تلگرامی «برخیز ایران» شود. اما این تلاش نیز شکست خورد. در مدت کوتاهی پس از معرفی، از طریق این بات، صدها هزار پیام از سراسر کشور دریافت کرده‌ایم؛ از دانشجویان، معلمان و پزشکان تا کارگران، سربازان، نیروهای پلیس و دیگر اقشار جامعه. ما این کارزار را برای ایجاد ارتباط مستقیم و دو سویه با شما راه‌اندازی کردیم و استقبال گسترده از آن، پیامی روشن دارد: اراده ملت ایران شکست‌ناپذیر است. ملت ما، با همه تنوع و گوناگونی‌اش، خواهان رهایی از جمهوری اسلامی است و برای آن مبارزه می‌کند و هزینه می‌دهد. این ملت از رژیم هراسی ندارد، برعکس، این جمهوری اسلامی است که از قدرت ملت متحد ایران می‌ترسد. این رهبر مفقود رژیم است که از ترس مردم پنهان شده و حتی جرات ندارد صدایی از خود منتشر کند.      شما، هم‌میهنان سرافراز من، بار دیگر ثابت کردید که برخلاف تبلیغات رژیم، نه‌تنها خسته و ناامید نشده‌اید، بلکه باورتان به پیروزی، از همیشه استوارتر است. من به شجاعت، استقامت و وفاداری شما به ایران افتخار می‌کنم. شما در سخت‌ترین روزها بر پیمان خود با میهن ایستاده‌اید. من هم بر پیمان خود با شما برای آزادی و سربلندی ایران ایستاده‌ام. بار دیگر از همه شما هم‌میهنانی که به سرنگونی جمهوری اسلامی و ساختن آینده‌ای آزاد و آباد باور دارید، دعوت می‌کنم به کارزار همکاری ملی برای نجات ایران بپیوندید. شما می‌توانید با اسکن QR کد هنگام پخش زنده تلویزیون انقلاب ملی ایران و شبکه ایران‌اینترنشنال، یا از طریق شناسه تلگرامی BarkhiziranBot، مستقیما با تیم من ارتباط برقرار کنید. اطمینان داشته باشید که حفاظت از امنیت شما، نخستین اولویت من و تیمم در این کارزار است. ما برای خود و نسل‌های آینده، ایرانی آزاد، پیشرفته و سربلند می‌خواهیم، ایرانی که بار دیگر جایگاه شایسته خود را در جهان بازیابد. من به این آینده ایمان دارم، زیرا به شما و اراده شکست‌ناپذیرتان باور دارم. نور ایران بر تاریکی جمهوری اسلامی پیروز خواهد شد. پاینده ایران، رضا پهلوی

Sentenced to Death for Tweeting Iranian political prisoner Amir-Hossein Mousavi has been handed a death sentence by a sham Islamic Republic court, based on confessions extracted through brutal torture. His only "crime"? Expressing his opinions on X over Iran’s heavily censored internet. Silence is complicity. Be the voice of political prisoners on death row in Iran. #LastBreath