Iranians Inside Iran Engaging in Civil Disobedience Deserve Our Support

In 1955, Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, took a quiet stand against segregated bus laws in the city of Montgomery, Alabama, by refusing to give up her seat to a white man. She was subsequently arrested for her act of nonviolent civil disobedience against the city’s unjust segregation laws. 

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In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi and a couple of dozen Indian activists marched 240 miles to protest the unfairness of a salt tax imposed by the British empire ruling India at the time. Gandhi and 60,000 others were imprisoned for their participation in this act of nonviolent civil disobedience against the discriminatory tax. 

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In March 1989, both black and white religious and political leaders in the South African city of Cape Town took part in the nonviolent act of civil disobedience by peacefully protesting together against the repressive apartheid rule of the South African government. 

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All of these various acts of nonviolent civil disobedience helped expose to the world the true face of evil and they, ultimately, helped bring down tyrannical institutions and regimes. 

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Like Parks, Gandhi and Mandela, thousands of young people in Iran have been engaged in a similar campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience against the tyrannical rule of the regime in Iran. These courageous young Iranians, who lack weapons and bullets but defiantly refuse to obey the restrictive, discriminatory and inhumane laws of the regime, deserve the full support of everyone who loves freedom.

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Nearly two years ago, thousands of Iranians poured into the streets across the country to protest against the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for improperly wearing her hijab. It was a tipping point for countless Iranians. 

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The regime responded to these “Women, Life, Freedom” protests with brutal force by beating, shooting, raping, torturing, imprisoning and even killing young Iranians who were demanding the end of the Ayatollahs’ brutal rule in Iran. While the regime’s forces were successful in quashing this uprising, Iranians continue to defy the regime through nonviolent civil disobedience. Photos and videos are documenting their struggle on social media. 

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The following is just a brief list of their remarkable acts of nonviolent civil disobedience over the last two years:

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• Defying the regime’s compulsory hijab laws, thousands of women in Iran still go out in public with their hair uncovered.

• Defying the regime’s prohibition against dancing and singing in public, thousands of Iranians of all ages dare to sing and dance on the streets of many Iranian cities.

• During soccer matches, thousands of Iranians openly and loudly defy the regime’s calls to honor Hamas. 

• Last June, during the anniversary of the death of the regime’s founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, thousands of Iranians publicly celebrated his demise.

• Iranians regularly set fire to the regime’s billboards and posters and, instead, hang their own handwritten banners denouncing the regime. Some have even draped the Israeli flag over highway overpasses.

• After the October 7 Hamas attack and the April 13 regime’s direct attack on Israel, many Iranians spray painted messages of support for the people of Israel on buildings across Iran and posted them on social media.

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In their attempts to address the regime’s aggression, politicians, pundits and “Iran experts” in the region and around the world have focused on its nuclear ambitions and support of terrorist proxies, but overlooked the elephant in the room – the Iranian people’s rejection of the government through widespread, nonviolent civil disobedience. 

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Young Iranians overwhelmingly want peace, prosperity and new business opportunities with their neighbors. Nations in the Middle East and North Africa that do not wish to see conflict and war in their region should recognize the nonviolent civil disobedience of the Iranian people as their best hope to bring about peace and security for their own people. They should help the people in Iran throw off the yoke of the malign regime that has not only been destroying the lives of Iranians for the last 45 years but posing the gravest threat to their own national interests.