From the frontlines of resistance comes a vision for an Iran free from both authoritarianism and foreign interference
By Shamim Aslani
Iranians are not a monolith, yet Western discourse attempts to sort their view into two neat binaries. Shamim Aslani writes of the true diversity of Iranian perspectives, and the growing movement for self-determined freedom.
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The ebbs and flows of power have long been thrust outside the grasp of the Iranian people’s hands in the land of the Aryans; the vast land that is known today as the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Though, what was born from force and loss wrought by power-hungry men resulted in quintessential Iranian ingenuity - the telling of our own story in a spectacularly expressive tongue.
The Shah-nameh is an epic book of kings, and a powerful preservation of Iranian cultural identity in response to immense cultural injury after Arab conquest. Penned by Persian poet Ferdowsi it speaks to a great battle of darkness. And of light.
Telling the dazzling tale of Greater Iran’s fateful dance between good and evil, it represents themes of ongoing resistance that Iranians have contended with against the tides of power-hungry men. Against the waves of foreign interference and internal treachery that Iranians have been subjected to in the never-ending quest to expand empire.
Whilst powerful men have warred over territory and resources, the history of the Iranian people demanding self-determination has grown from a steady hum through the Constitutional Era to the contemporary curdling screams - of anger, grief, and recently jubilation, escaping bodies that have carried the weight of oppression for too long. Bodies of over 93 million people with diverse ethnic, socio-economic, political, class, religious and ideological leanings.
To say there has always been or to assume there is now one dominant or unified Iranian perspective in Iran - or in the diaspora - flattens the narrative of our diversity. Indeed, there exists a vast spectrum of Iranian perspectives on US-Israeli led, illegal, offensive attacks.
For some in Iran, whose ability to sing and dance has been stifled through almost 50 years of theocratic ideological determination, the news that the supreme symbol of their subjugation had fallen, was cause for great celebration. For others, it signalled a time of mourning for their martyr.
The Islamic Republic has carried out extensive human rights abuses through the years it has maintained power. And in the most recent crackdown marred with civilian bloodshed, Iranian civil society has largely and fiercely condemned the Islamic Republic’s mass killings. Those on the front lines of resistance to the Islamic Republic have long rejected theocratic authoritarianism - and they have simultaneously, unequivocally rejected war.
Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leading challenger in the widely challenged 2009 election that gave rise to the Green Movement, has spent more than a decade confined to house arrest for demanding leadership accountability and leadership change.
Following the January massacre, he plead for security forces to step down. He proposed the formation of what he called an Iran Salvation Front, a broad framework that could guide a peaceful democratic transition. A framework in which he presented three fundamental pillars: no foreign interference, no internal authoritarianism, and a nonviolent path to democracy. This framework was endorsed by over 400 political and civic activists who warned that desperation can push people to hinge hopes on foreign powers.
A similar message was delivered by a collective of prominent dissidents in January, including imprisoned Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi. The request to Iran’s leadership was clear - to stop mass killings and to hold Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei responsible, a prospect which will now never come to fruition. Amongst the demands for justice, a dire warning was signalled – ignoring the people’s demands for self-determination will expose Iranians to devastating aggression.
Deeply mobilised labour unions, including the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, have all too, rejected foreign interference. Student coalitions from Iranian universities have stated in unison, that they reject both foreign interference and internal authoritarianism. They reject the idea too, of a monarchy.
The Association of Iranian Writers, one of Iran’s oldest, independent cultural institutions, who has faced brutal oppression under the Islamic Republic’s leadership, has consistently condemned state violence while adamantly rejecting the premise that freedom will arrive with missiles.
Inside Iran, alternatives to both authoritarianism and to war exist. They promote organised, disciplined, nonviolent mobilisation that allows Iranians to decide their future without foreign interference.
Here in Australia and other countries under the yoke of US-Israeli imperialism, dissident views inside Iran are drowned out by the platforming of Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah, whose monarchy was ousted in 1979.
The consistent media framing is that all Iranians in the diaspora are celebrating his return to power. Indeed, many are – in rallies flanked with Israeli flags where attendees speak to cameras praising President Trump’s offensive. However, this is not one dominant or unified Iranian perspective.
The loudest amongst us are given a platform, and in those loud and luring echo chambers, proponents of regime change by any means close their eyes amidst a rapture of what they feel is victory.
While US-Israeli carpet bombs rain down on schools and hospitals, causing death and destruction. Causing immense cultural injury to historic sites, including UNESCO heritage site, the Golistan Palace.
I have hope that voices within Iran will rise. To tell their story. In their spectacularly expressive tongue. To resist the ebbs and flows of power that have for too long been thrust outside the grasp of the Iranian people’s hands in the land of Aryans; the vast land that is known today as the Islamic Republic of Iran. I have hope that they will never stop redefining their role as mere spectators in their own destinies as ascribed to them by regimes imposed upon them.
Dissidents in Iran have been collectively confined to the shoreline, knowing that the way the ocean presents itself from where they stand is never fixed. It changes ever so slowly over time. Weathering. Erosion. Deposition. Of rocks. Of men. In a great battle of darkness. And of light.
About the author
Shamim Aslani
Shamim is an Iranian-Māori writer and communications professional based in Narm. She is interested in human rights, international relations, storytelling and Indigenous sovereignty.
Thank you for this piece, and thank you cheek media for publishing it. We need more Iranian perspectives.