This winter solstice night (or "Yalda" in Persian) will happen at the same time as the new moon. The longest night of the year will also be the darkest.
This rare astronomical alignment is what explains the ending line in this video, about the crescent moon giving way to the birth of the sun—or Islam making way for the return of a more open, tolerant society.
I was asked if I think the morality police will really be abolished in Iran, or the hijab laws really changed. So I'm answering, to my sisters in the streets: I think much more than that is about to happen. Here is my explanation of how the reformation of Islam will soon unfold.
What I saw happen before the World Cup game in Qatar, when the entire Iranian team stayed silent during the anthem, convinced me that reports of widespread unity against the theocratic government are true. So a political chain reaction has surely begun, whether the mullahs change any laws or not.
Soon they will realize, a religious chain reaction is also about to take place.
Happy Yalda, sisters. You don't even know yet all you've started.
