For Iranian Regime, War for Survival is Against Citizens at Home
Defense Opinion, July 8, 2025 by Ramesh Sepehrrad
With a fragile ceasefire now holding between Iran and Israel following the June 2025 escalation, headlines have temporarily shifted away from the regional tension. Yet the most consequential struggle involving the Islamic Republic is not in the skies over the Middle East but in the streets of Iran itself and the Iranian people’s fight for liberty.
Since August 2024, Iran’s regime has executed more than 1,350 people-many of them women, youths, and ethnic minorities, according to Amnesty International.
Repression is not a glitch in the system; it is the system. The regime has arrested more than 700 people since the ceasefire. It has established special courts to expedite the trials, and it relocates political prisoners to unknown locations. These signs are stark reminder of what took place in Iran just before the 1988 massacre of political prisoners.
For 45 years, Tehran has ruled through executions, torture, censorship and assassinations. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — the regime’s praetorian guard– exports that violence through proxies in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Given this record, the refusal of some Western governments — particularly the European Union — to designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity is indefensible.
A return to monarchy is dangerous fantasy
Even now, with Tehran facing mounting domestic and international pressure, some pundits propose a return to monarchy through the son of the deposed Shah, Reza Pahlavi. This is a dangerous fantasy, reminiscent of Iraq-style regime change imposed from abroad. Iranians have already rendered their verdict on both monarchy and theocracy.
During the 2022 uprising, protesters chanted, “Down with the oppressor–be it Shah or Supreme Leader.” More than 3,600 resistance units, many inspired by a six-decade struggle against two dictatorships, have carried out civil-disobedience actions in nearly every province. Their aim is not to swap one autocracy for another, but to build a democratic, secular and non-nuclear republic, rooted in pluralism and equal rights.
Read More
OIAC Photo Exhibition & Rally on U.S. National Mall, June 21, 2025 (FULL EVENT)
OIAC Donation | 501 (c)(3) Tax deductible
Your donation will help OIAC advocate for a democratic, secular and non-nuclear government in Iran. Founded on the respect for human rights, gender equality, religious and ethnic tolerance, as wells as social, economic justice, and security for America. Our goal is to organize Iranian-American communities in the United States to promote these values.