Throughout the years, public lashing, imprisonment, stoning and execution of Iranians has been the reaction of the theocratic government of Iran toward the exercise of the fundamental right of freedom of speech. In reality, the government has become so accustomed to committing inhumane acts against any form of dissent that nothing else could be expected from it.
Disregarding human rights, execution of the opposition and intellectuals, drummed up accusations and fabricated charges such as “infidelity”, “blasphemy” and “combating the Almighty God”, has been a vile collection of the regime’s inflexible methods vis-à-vis any constructive criticism, and aspirations for progress and modernity.
The academia has absolutely no doubt that the regime is beyond reform. Today, within the confines of a rigid and intolerant theocratic government, the nonviolent protests of the Iranian youth, is in essence a protest against the persistent violation of their most basic human rights; it’s a protest against the execution of freethinking and modernity.
The strength and continuation of these protests and strikes, is an indication of the intelligence and foresight of the internal dissidents who are fully aware of the methods of political defiance, intended to paralyze the regime’s socio-economic and political power structure.
My fellow Compatriots! The theocracy in Iran is unreformable. Our future and that of our children will only be secured through the fall of this regime. Those who insist on reform and the preservation of clerical rule only do so to preserve their self interest. Our salvation and that of a free Iran will only come as a result of a secular and democratic government. I have no doubt that we will succeed in our quest for freedom.
Reza Pahlavi
