Like in Ukraine, We Must Recognize Iranians’ Right to Resistance

“Political leaders in the United States are increasingly recognizing the vitality and capabilities of the Iranian resistance movement and are looking for ways to empower it.”

In leading the global effort to confront Russian aggression in Ukraine, the United States is being reminded of a painful lesson it learned long ago: that freedom is still not free. Simultaneously in Iran, another story of resistance has been unfolding, highlighted most recently by ongoing protests in southern Iran and a nationwide uprising that followed an extreme, sudden increase in food costs. Given that struggles in Iran and Ukraine have much in common, the United States should view them similarly.

This latest iteration of the Iranian people confronting tyranny confirms yet again that the clerics are both isolated globally and despised at home. A protester from Shiraz in south-central Iran recently summarized the Iranian people’s view on United States-Iran relations. He said that the people of Iran need help; that the United States knows its power; and that the West is only focused on the Iran nuclear deal and not the human rights of the people of Iran. His plea makes clear that the conflict in Iran is between ordinary people and aggressors, much like what is happening in Ukraine.

Two factors are key in Iran. First, there is a politically-weakened aggressor. Second, people harbor considerable anger. Both variables are fueled by the progress and expansion of the organized resistance in the country. This dynamic, Iranian dissidents and American political leaders are arguing, is why the United States must support the Iranian people’s resistance instead of appeasing the religious mafia that runs the nation.

At a function earlier this year organized by Iranian Americans, members of Congress expressed their support for the Iranian people and pointed to the appreciable influence such a change would have on democratic forces worldwide. Those members included Congressmen Brian Fitzpatrick and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania. And it is also important to keep in mind that such a transformation would mitigate the regime’s drive for nuclear weaponry and its support for international terrorism, both of which greatly impact the United States’ national security interests.