Empower the of People of Iran Who Seek Change and Freedom

by Majid Rafizadeh  •  Gatestone Institute •  November 23, 2024

In recent years, Iranians have launched countless uprisings, each filled with hope and courage, only to be met with violent repression from the regime, and mainly indifference from abroad. Each wave of protests saw security forces killing thousands of demonstrators, and imprisoning and torturing many more. The time is long overdue for Western nations to take a real stand. Pictured: Iranian policemen chase anti-regime protestors and beat them with batons in Tehran, on September 19, 2022. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

• European governments, rather than risking confrontation with Iran’s regime, have preferred to maintain business relations and avoid taking any position that might upset the mullahs. Those countries are complicit in the suffering of the Iranian people. The unalleviated silence emboldens the regime, rather than holds it accountable.

• After nearly four decades of maintaining diplomatic relationships with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the time is long overdue for Western nations to take a real stand. If these countries genuinely believe in the principles of “democracy” and “freedom” that they so often preach, they would look a lot more credible if they demonstrated this professed commitment by genuinely supporting Iranians yearning for freedom.
• This would mean cutting diplomatic ties with Iran, imposing and enforcing serious primary and secondary sanctions on the regime, putting military options on the table, and fully supporting Israel and, one hopes, the incoming US administration, in putting a permanent end to Iran’s nuclear program as well as to its brutal, expansionist regime.
• Only then will the actions of these nations align with their suspect rhetoric about “human rights,” and show that they are willing to deliver real backing to those risking their lives for change in one of the world’s most repressive states.

For decades, the brave people of Iran have arisen time and again, demanding a future free from oppression and authoritarian rule.

In recent years, Iranians have launched countless uprisings, each filled with hope and courage, only to be met with violent repression from the regime, and mainly indifference from abroad. Each wave of protests saw the regime’s security forces killing thousands of demonstrators, and imprisoning and torturing many more. These movements have shown the strength of the Iranian people’s resolve, but despite their cries for freedom, support from the West— usually merely vocal, about the ideals of democracy — has remained disappointingly muted.

In the eyes of many Iranians, this silence from democratic nations that supposedly champion human rights stands in intolerable contrast to their principles and has repeatedly left Iranian protesters feeling abandoned in their struggle.

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