“Do you think I’ll ever see Iran again?”
The question lingers, quiet yet profound, filled with longing. My father asks it in his final years, facing illness. His voice echoes millions, those who left their homeland and those still waiting for Iran to be itself again.
He escaped to London after the revolution, avoiding the theocracy that replaced the monarchy. My father supported the monarchy, believing it was modernizing and reformable, despite its flaws, unlike the Islamic Republic.
He never returned after leaving. In exile, he witnessed the regime’s imprisonment, torture, and murder, severing him from his homeland but not his hope.
And what about those who stayed, our families and loved ones, who endured repression and constant insecurity? They ask: When will we reclaim our country from this darkness?
I grew up between the nostalgia for a lost homeland and the reality of exile: protests outside the embassy, dissident gatherings, and news of executions and disappearances. That mix of sorrow and defiance shaped us. Now, as war looms, we feel it again: sorrow for the innocent, hope for the oppressors’ fall.
Speaking with civil society leaders inside Iran, few blame foreign powers for the war. Many Iranians believe the Islamic Republic never protected the nation, only its revolution. Even its Revolutionary Guards bear the name of a violent ideology, not Iran itself.
In a joint statement, Iranian Nobel laureates Narges Mohammadi and Shirin Ebadi, filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof, and civil society figures urged world leaders to stop uranium enrichment and end the bloodshed in Iran and Israel.
Inside the country, optimism and despair compete for the people’s soul.
For decades, many of us urged world leaders to reject both appeasement and war with the Islamic Republic, advocating for a path to weaken the regime and empower the people. Few listened, questioning if Iranians truly wanted change, despite hearing chants of “Death to the dictator” and “Death to Khamenei.” Perhaps now, as these cries echo even under the threat of war, they will listen.
Since the fighting started, several terror leaders have been killed. But with them, a child, a student, and a journalist have also perished, extinguishing the promise of tomorrow. Many of us watch in anguish as our compatriots flee, seeking safety beyond oppression and destruction.
As dissident rap artist Toomaj asks: “How are over 9 million people—without fuel, often without enough savings to relocate, and with no second home in another city—supposed to evacuate Tehran?”
Iranians see through the regime’s hypocrisy, officials who weep for civilians today but spilled the blood of November 2019 protesters, over 700 more during the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising of 2022, and countless others over four decades of tyranny.
Yet, the regime clings to its authoritarian ways, shutting down the internet and censoring news. Instead of protecting citizens during the war, it forces university students to take exams and intensifies its crackdown on free speech.
The Islamic Republic’s illegitimacy is evident in its human rights abuses and strategic failures. According to Trita Parsi, “Repressing dissent, putting innocent people in prison, flubbing operations abroad—Iran just can’t seem to get out of its own way.” Recently, Israeli strikes crippled Iranian counterstrike capabilities.
True advocates for peace reject both wars of aggression and terror. Ignoring the latter undermines any commitment to the former.
No foreign power will save Iran. The era of foreign saviors is over. We don’t live in a world of empires or simple alliances. Every nation must manage its affairs. For nearly half a century, the regime in Iran has poisoned not only its own land but also Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Gaza, and Lebanon.
Iran’s fate will be written by Iranians, not in foreign capitals, but in their own streets, with their own voices, and through their own struggle. If those who dream of democracy remain divided, I fear for my father’s question.
For a free Iran, a stable region, and a world at peace, as we urge restraint, we must ensure the sovereignty of the Iranian people, not their oppressors.