Latest news with #NargesMohammadi
Time Magazine
a day ago
- Politics
- Time Magazine
The Future of Iran Belongs Only to its People
'Do you think I'll get to see Iran again?' The question hangs in the air—quiet, fragile, heavy, with longing. My father asks it in the twilight of his life, as he battles the cancer that seeks to weaken him. It is not his voice alone I hear, but the echo of millions: those who fled the land they loved, and those who remain behind, still waiting for the day Iran might be Iran again. He fled to London in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution, narrowly escaping the noose of a theocracy that replaced a fallen monarch. My father served this monarchy with loyalty, believing that for all its faults as an autocracy, it was modernizing, socially liberal, and politically reformable: the very antithesis of the Islamic Republic. Once my father left Iran, he never returned. In exile, he bore witness to a regime that mercilessly imprisoned, tortured, and murdered. A regime that severed him from his soil, but could not break his hope. And what of the others? Those who stayed. Our families and loved ones. Those who endured the lash of repression and five decades of near constant insecurity. They too ask: When will we reclaim our country from this long dark night? I grew up between the nostalgia of a homeland lost, and the reality of exile. The chants outside the Islamic Republic embassy, the clatter of Persian tea glasses at gatherings of dissidents in our cramped government housing, the news of bombings and assassinations that stole friends and fellow dreamers. That haunting blend of sorrow and defiance shaped us. And now, as war darkens our skies, we feel it again: sorrow for the innocent, hope for the fall of the tormentors. When speaking with civil society leaders inside Iran, it seems few Iranians squarely blame foreign hands for this war. Although there is a diversity of voices in any country, many Iranians ultimately believe that the Islamic Republic was never a guardian of the nation, but a keeper of its own revolution. Even its Revolutionary Guards bear no name of Iran—only of a violent ideology that devours its children and invites war upon them. In a joint statement, Iran's Nobel laureates Narges Mohammadi and Shirin Ebadi, filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof, and civil society voices urged world leaders to halt uranium enrichment and end the bloodshed of innocents in Iran and Israel. Inside the country, optimism and dread wrestle for the soul of a people. For decades, many of us pleaded with world leaders: reject both appeasement and war with the Islamic Republic. There was another path—to strangle the regime and empower the people. Few chose it. Too many asked the question, ' Do the people of Iran really want change?' as if they did not hear waves of Iranian protestors chant, 'Death to the dictator' and 'Death to Khamenei' on the streets. Perhaps now—as these cries echo from the rooftops of Tehran, even under the specter of war—they will finally listen. Since the fighting began, several of the regime's architects of terror have been killed in their bunkers and beds. But with them have perished a poet, an athlete, and children —the bright promise of tomorrow extinguished alongside the darkness of the old guard. Many of us watch in anguish as our compatriots abandon their homes, desperate for a safe haven beyond the reach of oppression and destruction. As dissident rap artist Toomaj Salehi asks: 'How are over 9 million people—without fuel, often without enough savings to relocate, and with no second home in another city—supposed to evacuate Tehran?' Iranians see through the hollow outrage of regime officials who weep for civilians today, yet spilled the blood of 1,500 protesters in 2019, over 500 more during the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising of 2022, and countless others over four decades of tyranny. And yet, the regime clings to its authoritarian script: shutting down the internet, censoring its news. Instead of offering citizens protection or safe harbor in the midst of war, it forces university students to take their exams as if nothing has changed, and intensifies its crackdown on free speech. The Islamic Republic's illegitimacy is laid bare not only in its horrific human rights record but in its strategic failures. In the words of Kylie Moore-Gilbert, 'Repressing dissent, putting innocent people in prison, flubbing operations abroad—Iran just can't seem to get out of its own way.' And recently, Israeli spies and pilots have managed to cripple Iranian counterstrike capabilities. True advocates of peace reject both wars of aggression and terror in all its forms. Indifference to the latter undermines any genuine commitment to the former. No external power will rescue Iran. The age of foreign saviors is over. We do not live in a world of singular empires or simple alliances. Every nation must tend its own garden. But no soil stands apart. For nearly half a century, the regime in Iran has poisoned more than its own land—its blight has spread to Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Gaza, Lebanon. Iran's fate will, and should, be written by Iranians—not in foreign capitals or closed rooms, but on their own streets, with their own voices, and through their own struggle. And as long as those who dream of liberal democracy remain divided, as long as personal ambitions, old wounds, and ideological divides stand in the way of common purpose—I fear the answer to my father's question. For the sake of a free Iran, a stable region and a world at peace—as we urge restraint and adherence to international law—we must also ensure the sovereignty of the Iranian people, not their oppressors.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Iranian people were starting to win their battle for liberty and prosperity. Then Israel attacked
Missiles follow trajectories. So do countries. And over the past few days, Israel's attacks have dramatically changed Iran's trajectory. Some believe that Iran was already on a downward spiral and that Israel's actions will simply accelerate the descent. In an op-ed published on Monday, several of Iran's most prominent civil society figures, including Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, declared that the 'only credible path to safeguard [Iran] and its people is the resignation of the current leadership'. In this view, the war could be construed as a deliverance – Israeli officials are openly suggesting that their operations could lead to regime change in Iran. But if Iran's decline was already precipitous, why are ordinary Iranians terrified by the outbreak of war? Why have they not welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu as the saviour he imagines himself to be? The answer is that Israel is harming, not improving Iran's trajectory, the arc of which had recently been bent upwards through the persistent efforts of the Iranian people. Iran has long undershot its potential, held back by a sclerotic and oppressive government that has failed to undertake necessary reforms. Yet despite many headwinds, the country has been experiencing slow but steady improvements in its political, economic and social conditions over the past few years. Iran's people have been successfully pushing back against the authoritarian tendencies of the leaders in Tehran. Now they have been thrust into a war devised by an authoritarian leader in Jerusalem. When the hardliner president Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash a little over a year ago, Iran's political establishment reconsidered whether the authoritarian consolidation that had taken place during his term had been worthwhile. Manipulation of elections and brutal suppression of protests had left Iran's ruling elite distrusted and unpopular. Iran's current president, Masoud Pezeshkian, was elected to repair Iran's social contract. His first speech as president included an important admission. 'We make promises, and we fail to fulfil them,' he said, acknowledging the degraded legitimacy of the Islamic Republic. Less than a year into his tenure, and until the fateful events of the last few days, Pezeshkian had made some modest progress in trying to regain the trust of the electorate. Iran's leaders have had to acknowledge the power and perseverance of Iranian women, who mobilised during the Women, Life, Freedom movement in 2022 and never looked back. When the Iranian parliament passed a draconian mandatory veiling law late last year, Pezeshkian described it as an 'unjust law', a confession that the Islamic Republic will itself remain unjust so long as it fails to protect the rights of women. No longer a fringe issue, women's rights are now at the forefront of the fight for political renewal in Iran. Pezeshkian had also presided over a modest economic recovery, though he does not deserve credit for it. Despite the pressure of US sanctions, Iran's economy had returned to growth, owing to the resourcefulness of the managerial class and resilience of the workforce. But in recent months, inflation rebounded, and the country was rocked by major protests over controversial fuel subsidy reforms, underscoring the need for better management of the economy. On Monday, Iran's parliament confirmed Seyed Ali Madanizadeh, a young economist trained at Stanford University and the University of Chicago, would become economy minister. In an interview last week, Madanizadeh stated that economic reforms 'are not something that can happen without bringing people on board and opening up a dialogue with the public'. But it is in the space of foreign policy that Iran's course has altered most dramatically. Six years of intensive dialogue with regional neighbours, especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia, has led to renewed ties. In just the last few months, Tehran hosted the emir of Qatar, the diplomatic adviser to the president of the UAE, and the defence minister of Saudi Arabia. The new regional policy was summed up by the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, when he stated: 'Our neighbours are our priority.' Even Iran's relationships with its proxies have changed. Iran moderated its support for the Houthis as part of a deal reached with Saudi Arabia in March 2023. More recently, the fall of Bashar al-Assad and Israel's hobbling of Hamas and Hezbollah were strategic setbacks for Iran. But these events also gave rise to a robust debate among Iran's national security leaders about whether the 'forward defence' strategy, rather than making Iran more secure, had given rise to anti-Iranian sentiment across the region, while still leaving Iran vulnerable to attack. Finally, and most consequentially, Iran was negotiating a nuclear deal with the US. The seriousness of these negotiations should be underlined. President Donald Trump tore up the nuclear deal in 2018 at a time when Iran was in full compliance with its commitments. He reimposed sanctions, pushed Iran's economy back into steep recession, and brought the region to the brink of war by assassinating Gen Qassem Suleimani in January 2020. Not long after Trump was inaugurated for his second term, Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, called negotiations with the United States 'unwise'. But senior officials, including Pezeshkian, Araghchi and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, pushed back. They may have done so because of personal convictions, but they probably recognised that the Iranian people are tired of enmity with the US, which has left Iran isolated and embattled. The first round of negotiations took place on 12 April. Four subsequent rounds were conducted in just two months – the progress was evident enough that even Israeli officials were briefing journalists that a deal between Iran and the US was 'likely'. A sixth round of negotiations was slated to take place on Sunday in Oman. Those talks were cancelled after Israel's attacks, which Trump cheered. The Iranian people have struggled for over a century against forces of authoritarianism, which can seem endemic in the Middle East. At numerous junctures, foreign intervention has undermined their efforts. In 1911, a constitutional revolution was crushed with the intervention of Russian troops. In 1953, Iran's elected government was ousted in a coup engineered by the CIA and MI6. In 1980, the course of the Islamic Revolution was altered when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran. In 2018, Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal, dooming Iran's once influential and popular reformist movement, which had staked so much on the promise of sanctions relief. With each of these setbacks, ordinary Iranians persisted. Until a few days ago, something was shifting in Iran. Tentatively but noticeably, the country was moving in a better direction, pushed and pulled by 90 million souls yearning for greater security, prosperity and liberty. Seen in this context, Israel's attacks demonstrate a contempt not just for life – the civilian death toll in Iran is mounting – but also a contempt for the agency and aspirations of the Iranian people. They did not want this war and they were pushing their leaders to avoid it, but Israel chose to attack to prevent a new nuclear agreement between the US and Iran. The Iranian people are no longer in control of their futures, and they find themselves watching the trajectories of ballistic missiles, wondering what could have been. Esfandyar Batmanghelidj is the founder of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation thinktank
LBCI
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- LBCI
Iranian Nobel laureates, Cannes winner urge halt to Iran-Israel conflict
Leading Iranian activists and filmmakers on Monday called for an end to hostilities between Iran and Israel, urging Tehran to stop the conflict by halting its enrichment of uranium. "We demand the immediate halt of uranium enrichment by the Islamic Republic, the cessation of military hostilities, an end to attacks on vital infrastructure in both Iran and Israel and the stopping of massacres of civilians in both countries," said the activists in an op-ed in French newspaper Le Monde. The signatories included Nobel Peace Prize winners Shirin Ebadi and Narges Mohammadi, as well as the winner of the top prize at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Jafar Panahi, and his fellow director, Mohammad Rassoulof. AFP
France 24
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- France 24
Iranian Nobel laureates, Cannes winner urge halt to Iran-Israel conflict
"We demand the immediate halt of uranium enrichment by the Islamic Republic, the cessation of military hostilities, an end to attacks on vital infrastructure in both Iran and Israel, and the stopping of massacres of civilians in both countries," said the activists in an op-ed in French newspaper Le Monde. The signatories included Nobel peace prize winners Shirin Ebadi and Narges Mohammadi, as well as the winner of the top prize at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Jafar Panahi, and his fellow director Mohammad Rassoulof. Iran's enrichment of uranium has for decades been a cause of tension with the West and Israel, which fear the drive is aimed at making an atomic bomb, a charge denied by Tehran. "We believe that continuing uranium enrichment and the devastating war between the Islamic Republic and the Israeli regime neither serves the Iranian people nor humanity at large," said the signatories who also included the rights activists Sedigheh Vasmaghi, Shahnaz Akmali and Abdolfattah Soltani. "Uranium enrichment is in no way in the interest of the Iranian people. They must not be sacrificed for the nuclear or geopolitical ambitions of an authoritarian regime," they said. Calling on the Iranian leadership under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down, they said: "The current leaders of the Islamic Republic lack the capacity to resolve Iran's domestic crises or its external tensions." "The only credible path to preserve this country and its people is for current authorities to step down." Panahi returned to Iran last month after winning the Palme d'Or for his latest movie, "It Was Just an Accident", but has been presenting his work this month at a film festival in Australia. Rassoulof, whose latest film was shown at the 2024 festival, now lives in exile after escaping clandestinely that year. Ebadi, who won the 2023 Nobel peace prize, also now lives abroad. Mohammadi, the 2023 laureate, remains in Iran and his currently on leave for health reasons from a prison term. © 2025 AFP
Jordan News
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Jordan News
Iran Arrests Dozens Following Nationwide Truck Drivers' Strike - Jordan News
Iranian media reported that security forces have arrested several individuals linked to a nationwide strike by truck drivers. Tasnim News Agency stated that the Intelligence Organization of the Revolutionary Guard detained several people in the industrial province of Khuzestan in southwestern Iran. These individuals are alleged to have taken photos and videos of protests at a cargo station and shared them with opposition broadcast networks. اضافة اعلان The truck drivers began their strike about a week ago, protesting against rising prices of spare parts, fuel, excessive insurance premiums, and falling freight rates. Labor unions also reported the arrest of many drivers in Kermanshah province. The strike has now spread to more than 130 cities across the country. Narges Mohammadi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate currently imprisoned in Tehran, expressed solidarity with the strikers. Iran is suffering from a severe economic crisis due to harsh international sanctions and poor management. Recently, major cities have experienced increased power outages. The country has witnessed several waves of protests in recent years, each met with violent and harsh security crackdowns. Meanwhile, the government is currently negotiating a new nuclear agreement with the United States. Former U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Iran with military force if no agreement is reached.
