The Castle Report

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Today, Friday, March 20, 2026, Darrell Castle talks about the resignation of Joe Kent as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center and especially about the ramifications of the letter he publicly released explaining his resignation.

Transcription / Notes:

GOODBYE JOE

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. I will be talking about the resignation of Joe Kent as Director of The National Counterterrorism Center and especially about the ramifications of the letter he publicly released explaining his resignation.

Yes, Joe is gone and I for one will miss him in government because he was not afraid to ask questions and to encourage legitimate investigations into things which didn’t make sense from the official government explanation. First, let’s take a brief look at who he is and how he became Director of Counterterrorism.

He was born April 11, 1980, so next month he will be 46 years old. He enlisted in the U.S. Army after 9-11 and made it through Ranger School where he served with the 75^th Rangers. He requested special forces where he spent his 20-year army career. He served 11 combat tours in the Middle East wars. In 2018 he left the army and became a paramilitary operative for the CIA. He was married to Shannon and they had two children. She was also a military officer and a navy cryptologist and in 2019 while serving in Syria she was killed by a suicide bomber.

If the loss of Shannon was as devastating for him as it would have been for me it’s easy to see why he left military service and tried to enter politics. He ran for the U.S. Congress in 2022 and 2024 winning the Republican primary but losing to the Democrat in his Washington district. He voted for George Bush in 2000 and 2004 but then became more of a Libertarian and supporter of Ron Paul. I thought of him in Libertarian and Ron Paul terms while I was dabbling in politics myself.

He liked the anti-globalist, antiestablishment message of Donald Trump and after Trump’s election in 2024 He eventually served as chief of staff to the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. In July 2025 he was appointed Director of the Counterterrorism Center but from the start he had difficulties. I suppose that being on the inside of government exposes one to things that you either accept as part of the team or you become a pain in the butt to those who do. Joe made statements in favor of harsh views of Iran such as if it were up to me I would just take them out so something changed over the course of that year in his views.

Well, Joe concluded that a foreign government was somehow complicit in the death of Charlie Kirk and he encouraged Tulsi, his boss, to look into it. When Kash Patel, the director of the FBI found out that Joe was doing that he took him off the President’s Daily Briefing group and he disappeared for a while. He, like Charlie, lobbied the President to resist the advice to go to war with Iran. Whether Joe was correct with the opinions he expressed in his resignation letter, or not it seems now that going to war with Iran was not a very good idea.

Why, because you can bomb them ala Curtis Lemay, back to the stone age and they will just crawl out of the rubble and fire ballistic and drone missiles at the ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Ground invasion of Iran is impossible because of the terrain and size of the place but I just read where a Marine Expeditionary Force has boarded an LPH in Japan on its way to the Persian Gulf. I spent some time on LPH ships a little over 50 years ago so I know what those Marines are probably tasked with. The H stands for helicopters and that means the old days of Marines climbing down rope ladders to the landing craft are over. Everything is done by helicopter insertion and you need air superiority for that. I guess they have that except for the danger of some Iranian waiting in a spider hole with a man portable missile.

 Reports are that the Strait is about 90% closed to international shipping and it is damaging the world economy severely. The President calls on our former European allies but most decline as does NATO. Why would NATO decline to help keep the Strait open since they need the oil as much as anyone. I have a book in my library entitled Statesmen of the Lost Cause. It’s about the southern politicians of the Civil War of course, but it reminds me of the NATO refusal because those countries view it as a lost cause or a fool’s errand.

 The Europeans apparently view it as a lost cause but I do not because I know what the U.S. military can do especially when things look bad. The Europeans are certainly qualified to speak on lost causes because their entire bureaucracy known as the EU plus UK is a lost cause. They celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin but third world immigration has destroyed the cohesion of the Irish people. What they are really afraid of and angry about is that Donald Trump refuses to bend his knew to their global government run by unelected bureaucrats in Brussels.

However folks once again it seems that Ron Paul has been proven to have been correct in his warnings. “This is surely one of the worst military disasters in U.S. history. There are no military options available beyond the unthinkable, the use of nuclear weapons. The only viable option that remains is one that was often urged in the Vietnam War: Just get out. Now! No return to U.S. bases, no security guarantees to Gulf States. End the U.S. empire in the Middle East and elsewhere. If not, it’s only going to get worse.”

 Well, amen Doctor Paul but now let’s take a look at what Joe said in his letter of resignation. I won’t quote the entire letter but I will just give the paragraphs that have upset so many in the war/uniparty.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to out nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

To counter that statement the administration relies on Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt who said his Israel pressure accusation was a false narrative started by Democrats and the liberal media. “As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the U.S. first. “

Yes Karoline we heard that explanation clearly from Secretary of State Marco Rubio who told us that if Israel attacked first Iran would attack U.S. interests and we knew Israel was going to attack. I would call your statement more in the nature of an admission than proof of a lie.

From Joe’s letter: “Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran. This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that you should strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory. This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women. We cannot make this mistake again.”

Well, Karoline responded by giving us a long list of threatening things Iran did and said before the attacks started. I say in response that Iran did not have two carrier battle groups deployed against the United States and it did not have strategic bombers such as the stealth bombers and the old but reliable B-52’s.

The toothpaste is out of the tube now and things are being said that cannot be unsaid. This statement by a counterterrorism official is an open challenge to U.S. war justification and it has brought down on Joe’s head the kind of attacks one might expect. If you are critical of Israel or of U.S. military efforts on Israel’s behalf that makes you anti-semantic in today’s media world. The last report I saw about Joe was that he is currently being investigated for being a Nazi.

Joe Kent is a 20-year military veteran of U.S. special forces and as he puts it a gold star husband. His wife, Shannon, a navy cryptologist was killed in in Syria by a suicide bomber in 2019. Everything he said in his letter seems true to me. I am certainly no insider but it looks obvious in the absence of conflicting evidence that his portrayal of the situation is accurate.

Still, it seems irresponsible to write and publicize such a letter. I wonder if he could have gone to his superiors in private instead of this public letter while his country has troops in harm’s way. Oh, but he said he did do that by going to Tulsi and Vice President J.D. Vance both of whom apparently agree with him. Perhaps that is why they seem to have been sidelined while Marco Rubio who is Secretary of State, not National Security Director or Vice President always seems to be out front. He told them he was going to resign but I don’t know if he told them he would make it public. I’m guessing but my guess is that he got nowhere by making his views to those above him in private so he decided to go public.

In conclusion: His letter seems very close to giving aid and comfort to the enemy while his country is at war. This is a very difficult decision and one I’m sure he gave a lot of thought. Those of you old enough to remember Vietnam might remember the same controversy with the Pentagon Papers but this letter is far worse because it is an accusation of massive death by mistake and deception. Another phrase I remember from Vietnam is my country right or wrong. Apparently Joe couldn’t take it anymore and had to let us know.

Joe’s letter could have devastating effects on the mid terms as well as 2028. Could it be just raw political positioning i.e. those on record as opposing the war win and those who supported it lose. I suppose it’s possible but time will tell.

Finally, folks, goodbye Joe you gotta go because the truth cannot live in the government today. One could extrapolate what Joe said and if one’s conclusion is that he was accurate in his letter thoughts might go to mass murder but we certainly don’t want to go there with our own government.

At least that’s the way I see it,

Until next time folks,

This is Darrell Castle,

Thanks for listening.

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Darrell Castle talks about the fact, proven over centuries, that war is easy to start but hard to get out of and if one gets out, the continuing effects exist long into the future.

Transcription / Notes

THE SHELF LIFE OF THE IRANIAN WAR

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 13^th day of March in the year of our Lord 2026. Once again my beat is war and Friday the 13^th seems like a good day to talk about something so unpleasant. I will be talking about the fact, proven over centuries, that war is easy to start but hard to get out of and if one gets out the continuing effects exist long into the future.

Yes, this is Friday the 13^th once again and we are only two days from the Ides of March which was the date of Julius Ceasar’s assassination on 15 March 44 BC. He was born in 100 BC so by my rough calculations that would make him 2126 years old today. Why talk about Ceasar more than 2000 years after his death, because he has been the gold standard for leaders who became emperors since then. Emperors in Rome, for example, continued to be called Ceasar after his death and today we ask as did Shakespear, upon what meat doth this our Ceasar feed that he has grown so strong.

Our Ceasar today has certainly grown strong. But I submit that his meat is money and especially oil. Reports say that the U.S. has borrowed more than $50 billion per month for the last 5 months and that this war is costing in excess of $1 billion per day. The more important problem is oil and how much does it cost. The price of oil at the pump for the American consumer is what will determine if the U.S. can stay at war indefinitely or will have to declare victory and come home. It’s really hard to just come home when you have demanded unconditional surrender in an undeclared war.

Gas prices have accelerated but there are still a few desperation moves to temporarily moderate them. For the average American rising gas prices mean lowered standard of living because the real effect is similar to a cut in pay. The employer doesn’t increase wages because it costs more to get to work so you have a lower standard of living and lowered optimism. Oil effects virtually everything price wise because everything has to be made or harvested and transported and that drives up the cost of living for each American.

Iran is a major source of oil for the world or at least it was. Iran was a major supplier of oil to China with about 45% of China’s 11 million barrels per day of imports passing through the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. That Strait is now closed by Iranian mines and anti-ship missiles. The administration has made it clear that the Iranian navy and air force are no more so this closing is a little hard to understand. Reports stated that the U.S. Navy sank 10 or 11 mine layers earlier this week so my question is why not sink them before they laid the mines.

The end of Iranian oil has created opportunities for others to step up production which I imagine has made Russia and Vladimir Putin quite happy. The world price of oil is rising rapidly which puts money into Rusia for domestic use and to prosecute the Ukrainian war. Trump is very aware of the effect of rising oil prices on his poll numbers and on the upcoming mid-term elections so he has taken steps to alleviate it. He and Mr. Putin had what was described as a very good call on the 9^th and Russia has been freed from sanctions to sell its oil on the world market. It will be a little higher in price for China than the cheap Iranian oil but nevertheless it will help. Trump is also freeing up several million barrels from the strategic petroleum reserve something he criticized Biden for doing to help his poll numbers.

China has to be hurting from all this war and oil strangulation because reports are that about 90% of Chinese oil came from Venezuela, Iran and Russia and now only Russia is left. Perhaps telling China that it will no longer get energy from the Western Hemisphere or from U.S. allies is the point of the war. That is just speculation on my part but with the attack on the cartels in collaboration with other South and Latin American countries it makes sense. Rising energy prices will be hard for China’s export driven economy to absorb because it makes all their exports less affordable worldwide. Trump is scheduled to travel to China later this month to meet with Xi Jinping so we’ll see how that goes.

So, as the title of this Castle Report suggests the U.S. and Israel need to end the war before prices in the U.S. rise so much they effect public support for the administration. There are many events from war that can be hidden or censored from the public but it is hard to hide price increases at the pump. Casualties can be hidden to a certain extent for example getting real casualty figures has been close to impossible so far. We learned this week that at least 8 Americans and today 4 crewmen in a refueling tanker died so 12 are now dead and about 150 wounded. Some of those are gravely wounded with brain injuries and burns and may not recover. Those numbers have been censored but they leak out so accurate or not, we can’t be certain.

The other thing that is easier to censor from Americans is damage to infrastructure and casualty figures from others targeted because they host Americans. The U.S. bases and embassies in several of the Gulf States including Saudi Arabia have been seriously damaged by missile and drone attacks. In addition, the attacks have hit infrastructure and civilians which have nothing to do with Americans.

These problems are much harder to solve because no one seems to know who is currently in charge in Iran. The Supreme Leader is dead and his son was appointed in his place. He might be dead or wounded but for some reason he seems to no longer be in charge. The very religious and new Islamic supreme leader apparently owns about $140 million of prime real estate in London’s billionaire row. Does he control the military, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps or (IRGC) and if not who does. There are indications that no one does and the IRGC is acting on orders of individual officers. That would explain why the new leader apologizes to the Arab states which Iran attacked and said it was a mistake which would not be repeated. The attacks continued after his apology as if it had not been made.

The U.S. cost of living and that of the world for that matter is why the Strait of Hormuz seems likely to be the deciding point of the length of U.S. involvement. A war of conquest with a ground invasion of Iran would probably be long, bloody, and very expensive and therefore can’t happen. Oh, wait I’m sorry I mean it can’t happen if there are rational, non-insane people making the decisions. The key to the war, then, is the battle to keep the Strait open and with it the flow of oil. Air power can probably destroy the IRGC and that should make it somewhat easier, but we have known since the end of World War ll that air power alone will not make determined people give up their homeland.

The options then seem to me to be destroy the IRGC very quickly, which may or may not be possible, somehow get a new regime into power which can control them and which also may not be possible, or just fight it out however long it takes in the Strait. I guess some combination of all three is also possible. I am certain that Trump wants out of this mess, but I doubt if the Israelis do.

 He held a meeting this week with the heads of various defense firms and told them to ramp up production of missiles both cruise and Patriot air defense missiles so the U.S. is running low. The Iranians answer by making 100,000 suicide drones at $20,000 each instead of the multi-million missiles to attempt to shoot them down. The Iranian tactic seems to be the rope-a-dope whereby the U.S. fires all its missiles then the Kamikaze drones counterattack. People tried to warn Trump but apparently he wasn’t listening or had bad advisers as well.

My own view, and this is pure speculation on my part, is that Trump believes that World Warlll has already started but it is a cold war right now pitting many forces against each other. We have what Reagan called the axis of evil consisting of China, Russia, Venezuela, Iran and North Korea. Two of those are gone and the rest are nuclear armed. Trump is apparently trying to cozy up to Putin which I imagine makes Xi a little nervous.

Then we have the forces of the European global elite as managed by the World Economic Forum and its great reset of global bureaucracy and its unelected world government. Opposing those we have the American way of individual nation states living in freedom so that seems like the battle to me.

In conclusion, I remember the wise words of a man I once heard say that if I am proud of anything about my life I am proudest of my humility. Well, I echo that now and admit that I know very little firsthand just what logic and research produce so I use my best guess powered by some experience. I know from history that the Middle East contains a lot of people with long memories. Apparently they are still settling disputes that happened over 1000 years ago.

Finally, folks, children don’t start wars they just die in them. It is a terrible thing to go to war and this one seems especially brutal. It appears that this attack was unprovoked and that makes it even sadder. I pray that it ends soon.

At least that’s the way I see it,

Until next time folks,

This is Darell Castle,

Thanks for listening.

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Darrell Castle talks about the war, declared by President Trump, against the nation of Iran. Does he have Constitutional authority to declare war; why would he do so; and what does it mean?

Transcription / Notes

PRESIDENT TRUMP DECLARES WAR AGAINST IRAN

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 6^th day of March in the year of our Lord 2026. My beat is war today and war is obviously the most important story in the world right now as President Trump, unilaterally it seems, decided to make war against a nation that apparently had not harmed the U.S. and was not a threat to the U.S.

Why then did President Trump do it. I’ll give my thoughts on that but first let’s look at what he did. The U.S. spent a few months building up forces in the Middle East region while negotiating or pretending to negotiate a settlement. The U.S. demands became increasingly more difficult for the Iranians to comply with including give up the use of peaceful nuclear power except for medical purposes. Surrender all enriched uranium that you currently possess and allow international inspection. Give up all offensive missiles and drones. Cease all support for your terrorist proxies across the region. Finally, you must change your head of state and give up your oppressive theocratic government.

Well, those are some bitter pills for a sovereign country to swallow and some people believe they were designed to lure the Iranians into complacency while a serious attack was always the plan. The battle forces assembling in the region would have said to me were I head of state in Iran, prepare for serious war. I would have made defensive preparations such as moving my leadership and especially myself to a safe area. Iran didn’t do that and with the Ayatollah’s rejection of the peace proposal on Friday, he was dead within 24 hours.

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Darrell Castle talks about the State of the Union Address by reviewing a few of the things President Trump said and the reaction of his opponents, as well as providing a Constitutional response.

Transcription / Notes

SOTU – A RESPONSE

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 27^th day of February in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking about the State of the Union Address delivered last Tuesday by President Donald Trump. I will comment on a few of the things he said and on the reaction of his opponents to those things and then I will do what I am often asked to do and that is give a Constitutional response.

The President spoke for almost two hours the longest speech in SOTU history. He spoke mostly about the achievements of his second term and he mentioned that America is entering a golden age. He emphasized patriotism and heroes and he invited many of them to the speech including the gold medal winning men’s Olympic hockey team.

According to the reports I’ve seen more than 70 Democrats chose not to attend the speech but most of them did and they exercised their choice which was to set and glare straight ahead or occasionally to boo him. He noticed and called them out repeatedly for their failure to muster even the most basic bipartisanship in moments that should have been beyond partisan politics.

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Darrell Castle talks about the continuing saga of Jeffrey Epstein and what that saga means for the relationship between the global ruing elite and the people.

Transcription / Notes

EPSTEIN AND THE DESTRUCTION OF TRUST

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 20^th day of February in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking about the continuing saga of Jeffrey Epstein and what that saga means for the relationship between the global ruling elite and the people.

Yes, folks we are faced with a moral dilemma today and that dilemma is what to do when we find out that the ruling elite of the West, not just America but the West has completely abandoned the moral bedrock upon which the whole system is based. Western Civilization also known as Christian Civilization is based on a system of moral principles and if those principles are adhered to by everyone the system works and we can pass it on to our offspring.

Now that entire belief system has been turned upside down and destroyed and that is of great concern to me. The elite, and I will call them that for lack of a better word, but hopefully you know what I mean by that term. The elite know that their power is also based on moral authority which they don’t even believe exists. Their goal is to keep us from learning of their complete moral depravity because that might mean the end of their privileged and protected lives.

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Darrell Castle shares his thoughts on those who seem caught up in the Epstein files and if correct, suggests that every system of power on earth is currently run by satanic pedophiles.

Transcription / Notes

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday, the 13^th day of February in the year of our Lord 2026. Friday the 13^th and it is apparently a very unlucky day for some of those caught up in the Epstein files. Who is caught up in the files, just about everybody who is anybody it seems, all the rich and powerful, but as I said in the title the devil literally is in the details.

Yes, folks it is rather shocking to find that the whole world is run by satanic pedophiles but that is what the recent release of over 3 million documents that constitute about half of the Epstein files seem to be telling the world. Royal families torn apart, heads of state, cabinet secretaries, titans of banking and industry, owners of sports teams, ex-commissioners of sports leagues, but most of all billionaires were all very connected to Jeffrey Epstein. He connected them apparently through blackmail, greed, and money to his satanic pedophile circle of the most disgusting.

It is indeed unusual to find a politician of national status who was not enamored with Epstein and what he had to offer but not him. No, not the one man that many put all their hopes of catching in this net. The man they all wanted to be guilty, even demanded be guilty came out smelling like a rose. Orange Man Bad, President Donald J. Trump it seems was the whistle blower who called the police and said this woman is evil and Epstein is disgusting, get them out of here.

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Darrell Castle talks about what is going on in Minneapolis as well as the state of Minnesota — what is going on there, does anyone care, and what about fraud.

Transcription / Notes

MINNESOTA IS A STRANGE PLACE

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 6^th day of February in the year of our Lord 2026. Although I am a little late for the party I will be talking about what is going on in Minneapolis as well as the state of Minnesota. What in the world is going on there and does anyone care about the violence and death, and also what about the fraud.

Was a 37-year-old ICU nurse really a threat to the ICE agents in Minnesota? Do Americans who film such agents as they try to do their jobs belong on government lists. Should the presence of ICE agents in Minnesota be eliminated since the politicians and the people apparently are violently opposed to their presence. The answers to these questions, unfortunately, almost always depend on one’s political party affiliation. Republicans back ICE in its deportation efforts while Democrats stand with Alex Pretti. Sometimes these positions require members of both parties to abandon the principles they once held dear.

The struggle this time around has often centered on the real culprit, the ruling class. Everything seems like a diversion or distraction. When you see the Minnesota politicians parading around talking about the demonization of the Somali community one might wonder if they are just trying to distract attention away from the billions in fraud from which they allegedly received hefty amounts.

Due to the severe winter storm that hit our area, there will be no podcast this week. I will join you again, God willing, on Friday, February 6th. Until then, this is Darrell Castle. Thanks for checking in!

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Darrell Castle talks about President Trump’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland presented earlier this week and the important issues surrounding the speech including Greenland, Iran, Gaza, Ukraine, and of course Minneapolis.

Transcription / Notes

TRUMP SPEAKS TO THE WEF

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 23^rd day of January in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking about President Trump’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland which was given on Wednesday of this week. I will also talk about some of the important issues surrounding that speech including Greenland, Iran, Gaza, Ukraine, and of course Minneapolis.

Yes, President Trump traveled to Davos this week accompanied by a large U.S. delegation including Secretary of State Marco Rubio. California Governor Gavin Newscom was in attendance although not part of the US delegation. He was quick to gather a news event to question everything the President said. So, the President spoke for over an hour to the richest, most powerful, most pompous and self-important people in this world.

He used the occasion to sign the Board of Peace Charter, officially launching a new international organization tasked with overseeing the peace process between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza. Trump said as he signed, “This Board is the chance to be one of the most consequential bodies ever created, and it’s my enormous honor to serve as its chairman.”

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Darrell Castle talks about Iran today and exploring the possibilities for changing the regime there from one run by Islamic fundamentalists to one run by the ex-Shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi.

Transcription / Notes

REGIME CHANGE IN IRAN

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 16^th day of January in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking about Iran today and exploring the possibilities for changing the regime there from one run by Islamic fundamentalists to one run by the ex-Shah’s son Reza Pahlavi. What does the US want in Iran and what is it willing to do to have it.

Yes, it seems that revolution is in the air once again in Iran but this time it seems to be different. Every few years people grow weary of the Ayatollah’s strict laws, its moral police, etc. and they take to the streets to protest. This time it seems to be different for several reasons. The protests are much more massive and widespread this time and the people are showing great courage because the last report I saw showed more than 2500 dead and 10,000 arrested so not just protests but war in the streets it seems.

The Iranians don’t waste much time on niceties such as a fair trial either because they arrest a protester one day and publicly hang him the next as a warning to others. Another reason why this time might be different is that the US President is clearly fully supporting the protesters with his words and promises of military action. The primary reason, however, is that this time there are real reasons other that the resistance to fundamentalist Islam. The last large-scale protests happened when a young woman was arrested by the moral police and she ended up raped and murdered in their custody.