International community must support Iranians in their fight for freedom

By
Staff Writer
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From Amol to Chaloos, Langerood, Mahabad, Islamabad, Qazvin, and Karaj, brave Iranians gathered to honor martyrs, chanting
From Amol to Chaloos, Langerood, Mahabad, Islamabad, Qazvin, and Karaj, brave Iranians gathered to honor martyrs, chanting "Death to Khamenei" and "Death to the dictator."
From Amol to Chaloos, Langerood, Mahabad, Islamabad, Qazvin, and Karaj, brave Iranians gathered to honor martyrs, chanting “Death to Khamenei” and “Death to the dictator.”

 

On Thursday, a number of memorial services for the martyrs of the Iranian uprising turned into sizable anti-regime demonstrations. People and fully armed security forces clashed in cities across Iran, and clashes continued one day after the regime’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, considered protesters as foreign agents and declared the unrest over.

 

Iranians had nothing to lose but their fear after decades of witnessing the violence of the regime, particularly the deaths of hundreds of protesters. They are now defiantly rejecting the regime’s oppression and continuing to protest in a country where the entire security apparatus is organized to silence any voice of dissent.

Iran is undergoing a revolution, and as with any major social development, pure humanitarian values are being resurrected. What is happening on the streets of Iran is not merely a protest against economic or social restrictions, nor is it limited to a single generation.

 

Although youth and women are at the forefront of the current uprising, videos from Iran show older Iranians fighting alongside the new generation against the regime. The images of martyrs’ mothers bravely calling their loved ones “children of Iran” attest to this.

Iran’s modern history is replete with role models of tenacity and resistance. The resistance to the ruling theocracy began in 1981, when the regime’s then-supreme leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, directed his thugs to open fire on peaceful protesters in Tehran and other cities who had gathered in support of Iran’s main opposition, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

 

Since then, the regime’s onslaught has never ceased. The 1980s were the darkest period of the clerical regime. At least 30,000 political prisoners were executed and buried in mass graves across Iran in 1988. The majority of those killed were MEK members and supporters. Those brave souls marched to the gallows clutching their fists and chanting defiantly “Freedom, Freedom, Freedom.”

To put it another way, they “resisted” at any cost. As a result, during recent protests, people chanted, “From Khavaran to Evin prison, witness the sacrifices.” Iranian youth today are following in the footsteps of those young men and women who died for freedom in the 1980s. They have learned from their mistakes and are determined to create their own future. “History never repeats itself, but it often rhymes,”

 

Mark Twain once said. As religious fascism continues to kill unarmed protesters, mourning ceremonies for its victims draw new crowds, and such gatherings snowball into larger anti-regime rallies, such as Thursday's protests.
Mark Twain once said. As religious fascism continues to kill unarmed protesters, mourning ceremonies for its victims draw new crowds, and such gatherings snowball into larger anti-regime rallies, such as Thursday’s protests.

 

The Iranian regime is indeed in a deadlock. The rising violence has had the opposite effect, and the regime cannot allow this dangerous cycle to continue. The Iranian people are adamant about deposing the regime once and for all. The international community’s recognition of the Iranian people’s right to self-defense is now the only practical way to assist Iranians in achieving their long-held dream of freedom.

 

 

MEK Iran (follow us on Twitter and Facebook), Maryam Rajavi’s on her site, Twitter & Facebook, NCRI  (Twitter & Facebook), and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTub

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