The cause resonates across the Iranian diaspora community and has inspired many young Iranian Americans.
Many young Iranian Americans have joined what has become a global pro-democracy movement.
F or the past four months, the Iranian people have been besieged by their own government. They’ve faced beatings, torture, incarceration, and unfathomable violence for the crime of yearning to be out from under the thumb of a hard-line theocratic dictatorship.
What started as localized demonstrations in the hometown of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini — in response to her murder at the hands of the morality police who apprehended her for wearing her hijab “improperly” — have morphed into a general grievance movement that has engulfed the nation in civil unrest. We are witnessing the most significant uprising in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Hundreds have been arrested and killed, and nearly daily reports lay bare the regime’s depravity. The Iranian people are calling for nothing less than the overthrow of the Islamic Republic and remain steadfastly committed to their cause.
A similar sentiment pervades the Iranian diaspora community. Iranian-led protests have been held outside the regime’s embassies and consulates in cities worldwide in solidarity with their compatriots fighting for freedom at home.
One of those cities is Washington, D.C., where an organization known as the National Solidarity Group of Iran has been holding Farsi-language rallies, demanding regime change, outside the Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran: a part of the Pakistani embassy that serves as Iran’s official representation in the United States. Sunday marked the 16th week in a row in which the group has descended upon the de facto Iranian consulate to voice its remonstrations and discontent with the repressive status quo. The organization describes itself as “Iranians living in the diaspora, [who] support the quest of the Iranian people, inside the country, who are fighting for liberty and democracy.” This mission seems to resonate with many young Iranian Americans.
“I’m here because I believe in this cause,” said a 22-year-old woman who asked not to be identified. “Me and Mahsa are the same age. That could’ve been me had I been living over there. We cannot let her die in vain. There must be some justice for her.”
When asked what message she believed her presence on Sunday night was sending, another demonstrator named Rose said, “I want to show my Iranian sisters at home: They have nothing to fear. We see you, and we are with you. You will prevail.” Women and ethnic minorities have played a prominent role in the Mahsa Amini protests. Amini herself was Kurdish, and her death has come to symbolize the plight of marginalized Iranians, who often bear the brunt of state-sponsored persecution.
Other rally-goers were more zealous. “I want Ayatollah Khamenei out!” said one protester who wished to remain anonymous when asked why he had shown up to the demonstration for the 16th consecutive time. “For far too long, my people have suffered under this evil government. They have taken everything from us. Our rights. Our dignity. Our liberty. The supreme leader must go. This regime must go. Only then will I stop coming to these protests. Only then will there be peace.”
One of the demonstration’s organizers, Reza, said he had volunteered his time because he wanted the savagery the regime has inflicted upon his people and the world to stop. “For the last 43 years, we’ve seen what this terrible government is capable of. They have slaughtered the innocent and waged war on the world. . . . Three years ago, they shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane,” Reza said, referencing the January 2020 Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 that was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “This year, they’ve killed hundreds and arrested many more because they can’t tolerate free and thinking people. Something must change.”
But what would that change bring? What would Iran look like without its authoritarian overlords? “Much better,” claimed an elderly protester who had seen what a secular, liberal Iran looked like before the revolution. “Back then, it wasn’t perfect. But you could go out and live your life. If we get rid of this terrible government today, I know the Iranian people will have learned their lesson not to take secular politics for granted. It is no guarantee.”
It certainly isn’t. Prior to 1979, Iran was ruled by the shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. A tyrant in his own right, he was an enlightened despot in comparison with those who succeeded him. Iran’s Jewish minority, for example, enjoyed religious toleration in the 1960s and 1970s, something that would be unthinkable today. And during Pahlavi’s White Revolution, women in Iran experienced immense advancements. That all changed after the revolution.
Perhaps this is why many of the protesters at the rally on Sunday were waving the flag of the Imperial State of Persia, the Iranian state that existed under the Pahlavi dynasty. “We want to go back to before 1979,” said one man.
Others rejected the symbolism. “This is not about any political affiliations,” said Reza. “This is about the Iranian people. This flag represents their hopes and aspirations for living in a secular liberal democracy. Its emblem is associated with Iranian culture, which is thousands of years old. It proves we can be a proud, free, and beautiful country again.”
If nothing else, these rallies and the global Iranian democracy movement are a testament to the potential for this aspiration’s realization. As the father of modern political Zionism, Theodor Herzl, said, “If you will it, it is no dream.”