By Danny Gonzales-Hyde, Staff Writer
The 11th of February 1979 the United States puppet ruler in Iran, Mohammad Rezawho Shah Pahlavi, who had served as monarch of Iran since 1941, was finally ousted from office by the Iranian people. In the wake of the ensuing power vacuum, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini comes out on top and along with taking over as the head of state he also declares Iran an Islamic republic. Ayatollah had previously been exiled for 15 years by the Shah's government, due to the Shah perceiving him as a threat to his rule. It was during Ayatollah’s years in exile where he critiqued the country’s Westernization and secularization projects that the Shahs' regime was putting underway. This right wing government that seized power after the Shah is still in power to this day. As a result, for the past 43 years, the Iranian people have resorted to protest a number of times only to be crushed by the government's use of force. The most recent wave of Iranian protests have been the outcome of Mahsa Aminis death in September 2022. She was a 22-year-old Iranian woman, who was in police custody at the time of her death for “improperly wearing her hijab”.
Recently, I have had the pleasure of interviewing Mary, an Iranian woman studying in Izmir, Turkey. Mary offered her insight into the recent Iranian protests, which are being spearheaded by the youth. Mary cites Iran's complications with human rights, economic downturns, and right wing politics as being some of the issues that the Iranian people are taking to the streets demanding reform. This isn't the first time that the Iranian people have protested against the government, with the last large scale protests being in 2009 with a number of smaller ones since then. Despite this, Mary makes the claim that what sets this newest round of protests apart from past ones is the amount of international attention that they have received, which has given the Iranian people a platform to make their voices heard. The protesters have been resisting through nonviolent means, while the government is fully armed and has shown its willingness to use force. Mary described this forceful behavior by the government as making her feel powerless. Despite this feeling of powerlessness, internet spaces such as Twitter have given people a place to share what is happening and help build momentum and support for the movement inside and outside of Iran.
The reaction of the international community so far has been to impose more sanctions upon the Iranian state, which has made it increasingly difficult for the everyday citizens of Iran. Different forms of sanctions have been in place against the Iranian government since the establishment of Iran as an Islamic republic. The only difference since then has been the severity of these sanctions. According to Mary, the most recent round of sanctions has negatively affected the Iranian people, who can't find some of the basic products that they had previously relied on, such as certain medicines. The sanctions have also cut the Iranian people off from the rest of the world. She gave the example of wanting to pursue an education outside of Iran, where it would be impossible to pay for it with Iranian Rials, since banks no longer accept that currency.
Despite the dire situation, Mary retains hope as she claims the Iranian people are taking the necessary steps towards building a better future. In order to further support the people of Iran from our own communities, you can share information about the protests with your peers or contact your local Human Rights organization on behalf of the Iranian people.