Collective statement
More than 450 people from political and social circles opposed to the Islamic government published an open text expressing their opposition to a military attack and foreign intervention in Iran. The statement reads:
We call on all freedom-loving people of Iran, without hesitation or fear of profanity and threats from warmongers, to take the slogan “No to War” to their families, friends, workplaces, and living spaces, and not let the voices of the opposition be silenced by war and warmongering in the absence of independent, progressive media.
The lives of the majority of Iranian society have fallen into a critical situation. The economic policies of the Islamic Republic, which over decades have made the people’s tables smaller and the capitalist minority it supports fatter, have today driven the general public into unprecedented poverty and misery, and have limited the purchasing power of wage earners and hard workers more than ever.
The Islamic Republic, which from the very beginning was known for suppressing revolutionary organizations and killing fighters and dissidents, has survived throughout its life, regardless of the ruling factions in each era, only by suppressing and eliminating opponents and dismantling organizations from society; from the bloody suppression of revolutionaries in the late 1950s, to the attacks on revolutionary organizations and the massacre of tens of thousands of fighters in the 1960s, from the criminal extermination of people protesting against poverty resulting from structural adjustment policies in the 1970s in Mashhad, Islamshahr, Shiraz, Qazvin, Arak, etc., to the bloodshed of the university dormitory protests and the shameful serial murders, from the killing of people protesting against imposed misery in January 2017 and November 2019, to the suppression of women and men seeking equality with the progressive slogan “Women Live Freedom” in the protests of 1401, and finally the unprecedented killing of people who were on the verge of death in January of this year.
Over the past five decades, however, the progressive movements of various segments of Iranian society have not stopped for a moment. Despite the suppression of any collective activity and the stifling of any attempt to organize and form, students, teachers, retirees, women, and the working class have for years stood up against reaction, exploitation, and tyranny at every possible opportunity and at the cost of torture, imprisonment, exile, and death, and have fought for the realization of their collective demands.
Today, however, in addition to the poverty, mourning, and misery imposed on the majority of Iranian society, the shadow of a devastating war has also fallen over the suffering people of this country. Not even a few months have passed since the genocidal occupying regime of Israel attacked Iran and killed more than a thousand innocent people. The US government, with a history of killing millions of people in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, and Iraq, has once again resorted to a shameless lie. With the shameless slogan of “saving the people of Iran” and “helping” them to overthrow the Islamic Republic and “restore its former glory,” it seeks to pave the way for bombing, destruction, and the deprivation of life, property, security, and dignity of the people of this country.
We, the signatories of this statement, who consider ourselves opponents of the current regime, believe that no hatred of the Islamic Republic is a justification for accepting or accompanying the imperialist and destructive scenario of the warmongers. We have witnessed the disastrous results of the US military interventions in Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and Iraq, and no “liberationist” or “humanitarian” promise can make us forget the slaughter of the people of the Middle East and the destruction of the progressive movements of these countries as a result of the war.
We believe that while the desire for war and sanctions is an attempt for many of the forces active on the scene today to enter the political arena, seek a share, and impose their rule by killing, torturing, and torturing their rivals and opponents, for us it will never bring anything but the death and dismemberment of our loved ones, the destruction of the country’s basic infrastructure, the deprivation of water, electricity, fuel, and public services, humiliation, poverty, greater hunger, and emptier tables.
We believe that war will destroy the foundations of our social life, set back decades of our protest movements, including the labor movement, the women’s movement, the student and teacher and pensioner movements, and destroy the struggles we have fought with our own blood and reduce our lives to a mere struggle to “survive.” We know that liberation from the clutches of exploitation and tyranny is not possible through foreign intervention and the promise of overthrowing the current government, and we believe that equality and freedom are the fruits of the struggle and effort of societies, not imported and tradable concepts.
We call on all freedom-loving people of Iran, without hesitation or fear of profanity and threats from warmongers, to take the slogan “No to War” to their families, friends, workplaces, and homes, and not let the voices of opponents be silenced by war and warmongering in the absence of independent, progressive media. We believe that confronting foreign military intervention and spreading the slogan “No to War” at the societal level is not only not separate from all the slogans of progressive movements in Iranian history, but is the foundation and basis of any struggle that has the ideals of dignity, equality, and a more humane life.
No to war.
Long live the progressive struggles of the masses of the people.
——-
Signatories (in alphabetical order):
Abolfazl Pahali (Researcher and Researcher)
Ahmad Motlagh (Communist Activist)
Ahmad Nejati
Ardalan Bastani (Author)
Arzhang Bamshad (Political Activist)
Arghavan Soltani
Arghavan Farahani (Editor and Translator)
Armaghan Abiri (Lawyer)
Azadeh Shokohi
Asad Golchini
Afkham Amini (Retired)
Afshin Abdollahi (Civil Engineer)
Akbar Masoombeigi
Akram Pedramnia (Author, Translator)
Akram Khatam
Omid Aghdami
Amir Awani
Amir Chamani
Amir Dehghan (Political Activist)
Amir Abbas Azarmvand
Amir Ata Qabuli Shahroudi
Amin Bozorgian (University of Nice, France)
Amin Alimohammadi
Amin Farhadi (Engineer)
Anoushirvan Mani
Omay Radmehr (Intersectional Feminist)
Evin Mahmoudi
Iran Khakbaz Sanandaj
Irandokht Saberi
Ilia Tahmatani (Art Director)
Iman Dejban
Ayoub Mohammadi (Worker)
Azar Jafari
Araz Fani
Arash Ghiasi (Lawyer)
Arman Esmaili
Armin Sharifeh
Ariobarzen Mokhtari (Architect)
Azadeh Balash (Musician and Piano Teacher)
Azadeh Hosseini
Azadeh Zakeri (Pharmacist)
Azita Shesh-
Bloki Asiyeh Hanafi Bejd
Asiyeh Reis
Amanda Jafari
Anahita Tehrani
Aida S (Psychologist)
Aydin Gholamzad
Aydin Gharedaghi
B. Feyz
Banafsheh Ranji (Researcher)
Baharan Farahani (Psychoanalyst)
Bahareh Besharati
Bahareh Soleimani
Bahram Rahmani (Author and Journalist)
Bahram Modaresi
Behrouz Modaresi
Behzad Shiravand (Employee)
Bijan Sabbagh
Bijan Mortazavi
Bijan Hedayat
Parsa Elbeheshti (Student Activist)
Pedram Moalemian (Socio-Political Activist)
Pardis
Parastu Naqvi (Senior Manager of Data Analysis and Artificial Intelligence)
Parvaneh Ghasemian
Parvin Ardalan
Parvin Ashrafi
Parvin Rahbari
Parvin Kiani Parvin Nemati
Parvin
Heruvabadi (Translator)
Parham Ghalamdar (Artist)
Peri Berger
Parya Izadpanah (Software Engineer)
Parisa Rahnavard
Parisa Mokhtabad (Social Science Researcher)
Parisa Mirsadeghi
Pejhan Mokhtari (Researcher at the University of Illinois)
Pouria Moradi
Pune Shamloufard
Payam M.
Peyman Farhangian (labor activist)
Tara Abdali
Tayaz Fakhri (project manager)
Nawandishi Tribune (free media outlet that publishes Afghan and Iranian issues)
Tarang Mirshekari
Taghi Saberi
Touraj Haji Mirzaei
Soraya Chitsaz (political activist)
Jafar Mohammad Rezaei (translator)
Jafar Yazdanfar
Jamal Pirkhezran (work in schools)
Jamil Khanchezar
Hamed Kiaei
Habib Abdollahi (Construction Electrician)
Hassan Bayat
Hassan Maarefipour (PhD student in Philosophy)
Hossein Parhizgar
Hossein Abbasi (Laborer)
Hossein Mansour
Hamid Roshan
Hamid Malekian (Employee)
Hamila Nisgilli (Political Activist – Social Worker)
Hana Afshar
Hanif Amin (University Researcher)
Khatre Asgari Rad
Khatre Hemmati
Khalo Mohammad (Author and Critic)
Khosrow Sadeghi Borujeni
Damon Afzali (Translator)
Dr. Negin Sasanfar (Author and Literary Critic)
Delshad Amini (Legal Consultant)
Diako Moradi (Journalist and Human Rights Activist)
Diana Nami
Diba Mokhtabad
Ramesh Taheri
Rahim Saburi
Rastak Mohammadi
Reza Amini
Reza Hamouleh
Reza Rais Dana
Reza Sharifeh
Reza Alizadeh
Rezvan Jayamand
Ruben Markarian (Political Activist)
Roja Kia
Roza Karimi (Nurse)
Rozhin Mokhrian (Teacher)
Zahra Bagheri
Zahra Hosseini
Zahra Rajab Baba
Zahra Ghanbari
Zahra Goshayesh (Designer)
Zahra Mousavi (Author)
Zahra Naji
Zeinab Araghi
Jhale Janipour
Jila Eftekhari (Clinical Psychologist)
Sara Eftekharizadeh
Sara Razban (Accountant)
Sara Zarei
Sara Sabbaghi (Employee)
Sara Karimi
Sarina Abadi
Salomeh Rahimi (Feminist and Student of Women’s Studies and Communication Sciences)
Sobhan Salari Shahrbabaki (Researcher)
Sepideh Jadiri (Poet and Translator)
Sepideh Sanei (Lawyer)
Sepideh Crawford (Pharmacist)
Setareh Sajjadi
Sahar Salahshour (Filmmaker)
Soroush N.
Saeed Habibi
Salam Ziji (Socialist Worker)
Soleiman Bayazidi (Writer and Philosophical Researcher)
Sama Asghari
Sama Oriad
Sammaneh Lisani (Retired)
Somayeh Qobahi
Somayeh Kargar
Soudabeh Mirzaei (Secretary)
Sosan Amini (Retired)
Sosan Bayat (Teacher)
Sona Mohammadi
Soheil Dolatshahi (Computer Engineer)
Siamak Amini (Current Political Prisoner in Ward 7 of Evin Prison)
Seyed Amir Baladi
Moghaddam Seyed Hosseini
Siranush Moradian
Simin Esfahani (Political Activist and Women’s Movement)
Simin Babaei (Sewing Designer)
Sina Chegini (Social Researcher)
Shadab Alibolandi
Shahroudi
Shahin Eghmad (Driver)
Shervin Pashaei
Shervin Taheri (Translator)
Sholeh Iranian
Shaghayegh Norouzi (Gender Equality Activist)
Shokofeh Paydar
Shakiba Abedzadeh
Shalir Shibli (Consultant)
Shahab Zekri (Technology Researcher)
Shahram Tabe Mohammadi (Professor, University of Toronto)
Shahram Kiani
Shahrbabaki
Shahrzad Mohammadhasani (painter and restorer of historical monuments)
Shima Lorestani (teacher)
Shiva M.
Sadeq Shojaei
Saleh Seifi (student)
Sadra Shahab
Salah Bozorgy (labor activist)
Ziauddin Mohseni
Taha Radmanesh
Asal Karimi (musician)
Ali Ardalan (visual artist)
Ali Piriaei (political activist)
Ali Tarikh (refugee and immigrant rights activist)
Ali Zamani
Ali Sohrabi Sanjabi Kermanshahi (heavy truck driver)
Ali Fathi (activist and writer)
Ali Kalaei (journalist)
Ali Mashhadi
Ali Moazami
Alireza Eslami (oil and gas project worker)
Alireza Hoshyar (English teacher)
Emad Safdari
Issa Safa (author)
Ghazaleh Ahmadi
Gholamreza Bashiri
Faris Mahmoud Faris Mahmood (political activist)
Fatemeh Ranjbar
Fatemeh Raisi
Fatemeh Nakhghamed (employee)
Fatemeh Naeimi
Fatemeh Norouzi (translator)
Faezeh Maghami Nik (university professor)
Fakhri Shadfar
Faramarz Sedehi (poet and writer)
Farzaneh Ahmadi (housewife)
Farzaneh Raji (Author and Translator)
Fereshteh Ahmadi (Professor of Sociology)
Farshid Shokri (Communist Activist)
Farshid Faryabi (Retired Journalist)
Farhad Basharat
Fariborz Omid (Mechanical Engineer)
Farida Sohrabian (Political Activist)
Fereydoun Mansour (Retired)
Fahimeh Fadaei
Firuzeh Farvardin
Qaren Savadkouhi (Author)
Qamar Fallah (Unemployed)
Kamran Sedaghati
Kamran Motamedi
Kamyar Ahmadi
Kaveh Abbasian (University Teacher)
Kasra Tabrizi (Student)
Essian
Koosha Collective Iqbal
Kimia Raha
Kimia Mahdipour (Citizen)
Keyvan Bahadori
Golshid Karimian (Author)
Giti Khazaei
Laleh Abar (Architect and Civil Activist)
Laia Hoshyaari
Leila Eslami Leila
Orand Leila Danesh Leila Zare Leila Mansour Leila Mirghfari (Human Rights Activist) Leila Babaei Lea Mansouri M. Attaabadi M. Reza Maleksha Maria Sadeghian Maherkh Nasri (Translator) Mobina Kaviani Mobina Mohammadi Mojtaba Soltanloo Mahboobeh Zakeri Sohi Mohsen Hakimi Mohsen Dardan Mohsen Mosaddeq (Nationalist Activist) Mohammad Tehrani Mohammad Haghighat Talab (Cinematographer) Mohammad Khosravi Mohammad Rasti (Retired) Mohammad Shams Kho Mohammad Safavi (Labor Activist) Mohammad Adeli Mohammad Attari (Physician) Mohammad Fattahi Mohammad Matin Mohammad Mehdipour (Poet and Literary Researcher) Mohammad Naghi Moradi (Retired Employee) Mohammad Navid Badami (Writer and Researcher) Mohammad Yousef Rashidi Mohammad Amin Amouzgar (Student) Mohammad Javad Esfahani (Writer)