{"id":306649,"date":"2023-04-28T22:12:52","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T21:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=306649"},"modified":"2023-04-28T22:12:52","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T21:12:52","slug":"amplifying-iranian-voices-the-call-for-freedom-and-democracy-amidst-political-turmoil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-protests\/amplifying-iranian-voices-the-call-for-freedom-and-democracy-amidst-political-turmoil\/","title":{"rendered":"Amplifying Iranian Voices: The Call for Freedom and Democracy Amidst Political Turmoil"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Time_to_Support_Irans_Pro-Democracy_Activists_Prof_Sheehan_wrote_in_an_op-ed_for_US_News__World_Report_on_November_28_2019_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In an<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stripes.com\/opinion\/2023-04-27\/democracy-the-answer-for-iran-9940134.html\" rel=\"noopener\"> insightful piece on Star and Stripes,<\/a> Professor Ivan Sascha Sheehan, the associate dean of the College of Public Affairs, analyzes the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/iran-protests-2022-nationwide-uprising\/\" rel=\"noopener\">ongoing political turmoil<\/a> in Iran, with a focus on the recent anti-government protests that erupted across the country. Despite the brutal crackdown by the regime, Iranians&#8217; unwavering demand for civil and political liberties has not subsided. Prof. Sheehan examines the various political figures vying for power and presents a compelling argument against the return of the Pahlavi dictatorship. Instead, Sheehan advocates for the 10-point plan presented by <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/maryam-rajavi\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Mrs. Maryam Rajavi,<\/a> which promotes free and fair elections and the separation of religion from the state. As the debate about Iran&#8217;s future intensifies, the author reminds us that it is crucial to amplify the voices of Iranians fighting for freedom and democracy, not those seeking a return to an oppressive past.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Following is Prof. Sheehan\u2019s article:\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Islamic Republic of Iran has posed a significant challenge for Western policymakers since the establishment of the theocracy by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini 44 years ago. But Iranians\u2019 uncompromising pursuit of civil and political liberties may finally be paying off.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Though the latest round of anti-government protests were sparked by the killing of a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, by the so-called \u201cmorality police\u201d for reportedly wearing a headscarf incorrectly in September 2022, the uprising quickly metastasized with Iranians taking to the streets to participate in a country-wide rebellion and insisting on the removal of the clerical regime in its entirety.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">According to the leading pro-democracy opposition group, the People\u2019s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK), more than 750 people have been killed over the past seven months in the regime\u2019s latest crackdowns, with 30,000 others arrested. Although some media outlets report lower estimates of both figures, authorities in Tehran claimed in March to have granted amnesty to 22,000 people arrested during the anti-regime uprising, effectively confirming the MEK\u2019s accounts.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">While the ayatollahs and their disinformation units try to present an image of normalcy, outrage, and defiance persist among ordinary Iranians. The country\u2019s economic and social situation has worsened over the past six months, and indications are that unrest could re-emerge at any moment. The international community cannot afford a failure to understand the political sentiments that drive the people\u2019s thirst for regime change.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As the West adjusts to new realities in Iran, the question of what the future holds has become ever more complicated. This is particularly so with marginal figures and bit players that have been largely inconsequential for years, situating themselves among the regime\u2019s credible opponents. Chief among them is Reza Pahlavi, the son of the Shah, who was deposed in 1979 and died two years later.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Although it is true that Iran during the Shah\u2019s era was vastly different than Iran today, it would be a mistake to conclude that it was a more humane or tolerant era or one that the Iranians wish to return to. The 1979 revolution was a genuine popular revolt motivated by years of accumulated indignation over the Shah\u2019s corruption and oppression. Most who were alive at the time \u2013 including many who participated in the Shah\u2019s overthrow \u2013 could not have anticipated that his removal would result in a nearly half-century of theocratic rule by mullahs who would themselves become despised.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">But the Shah\u2019s lavish and brutal rule is hardly forgotten.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Just over a year before the revolution, The Village Voice observed that torture by the Shah\u2019s secret police was a \u201cnational pastime\u201d in Iran. The Shah expanded the Pahlavi dynasty\u2019s wealth by \u201csimply stealing it\u201d from his subjects. A large portion of that wealth was expatriated when he fled the throne, and it would be appropriate to ask whether it is being used to finance his son\u2019s travels and advocacy for the restoration of his familial dynasty today. In 1981, Reza Pahlavi vowed to pursue that goal in front of his father\u2019s tomb.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Indeed, Pahlavi has shown no inclination to relinquish his ill-gotten gains or to account transparently for the extent of his father\u2019s financial misdeeds. He has never acknowledged any of the crimes committed by the Shah\u2019s notorious secret police, SAVAK, much less disavowed them while positioning himself as a legitimate contender to lead the country after the next revolution. His ongoing defense of those wrongs, coupled with a regressive vision that contrasts sharply with the democratic objectives espoused by principled oppositionists that have been fighting the regime for four decades, mean that Western thought leaders can not take him seriously.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, who lost a sister to the Shah and another to the ayatollahs, has presented a 10-point plan for Iran\u2019s future in the absence of the mullahs. It advocates for free and fair elections, separation of religion from the state, and legal safeguards on the rights of women and minorities, and it has already been endorsed by a diverse roster of prominent Western politicians on both sides of the Atlantic, including a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives in March.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As evidenced by social media clips and eyewitness accounts, residents of virtually every major city and town have taken up the chant of \u201cdeath to the oppressor, be it the Shah or the Supreme Leader,\u201d to make it clear that they reject dictatorship in all its forms and will only accept forward progress toward democracy for their country.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Amid an increasingly urgent discussion of Iran\u2019s future, policymakers and journalists must decide whose voices to amplify and whose voices to disregard. Iranians fighting for freedom have already made this choice and made it clear that they aspire to democracy, not a return to the Shah.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Ivan Sascha Sheehan is the associate dean of the College of Public Affairs and past executive director of the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Baltimore. Opinions expressed are his own.<\/span><\/i><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an insightful piece on Star and Stripes, Professor Ivan Sascha Sheehan, the associate dean of the College of Public Affairs, analyzes the ongoing political turmoil in Iran, with a [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":54570,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,9],"tags":[204,222,800],"class_list":{"0":"post-306649","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran-resistance","8":"category-iran-protests","9":"tag-maryam-rajavi","10":"tag-iranian-resistance","11":"tag-iran-freedom"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with 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