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IRAN: Protests, Repression, and Hope

The mass demonstrations against the repressive clerical regime in Iran are arguably the greatest threat the Iranian government has faced in 43 years.

From an essay by Paul Barker

Editor of the Peace Corps Iran Association Advocacy Bulletin

 

Perhaps because they are leaderless, the mass demonstrations against the repressive clerical regime in Iran are arguably the greatest threat the Iranian government has faced in 43 years. The risks that students, musicians, journalists, academics, athletes, and ethnic minorities shoulder to speak and act out against the government continue to be met with violent repression, judicial as well as extra-judicial killings, and mass imprisonment. The music of the protest is as haunting as it is beautiful. The silence of the Iran Melli soccer team while the Iranian national anthem was played in Qatar at the World Cup was a loud statement, as were the words of Iranian soccer stars in support of the anti-government protests.

 

Speak out: Protestors in London honor Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, who died in police custody in Tehran. She had been detained by Iran’s morality police for wearing a hijab headscarf in an “improper” way. Protests are taking place in Iran and the access to the internet and social media is now being restricted. Photo by Stephen Chung/Alamy

 

This is an important time for non-Iranian Americans to speak up for diplomacy and in defense of Iranian American journalists and scholars. Many who support the current leaderless protests want to refer to this uprising as a revolution. This is particularly appealing to those wishing to see a free, democratic, much more secular Iran which fully respects and defends the human rights of women, girls, and other oppressed people in the country.

Iranians inside Iran should decide the future of Iran. Western governments should take stands and steps against the clerical regime’s supply of missiles, drones, and technical assistance to Russia to use in its war against Ukraine. The regime’s violent crackdown on protesters inside Iran should be denounced. At the same time, we need to ensure that doors remain open for eventual diplomacy with Iran on nuclear issues.

 

Paul Barker served as a Volunteer and staff in Iran and Bahrain 1971–76. Read more at peacecorpsiran.org.


This story appears in the Winter 2023 edition of WorldView magazine.