Listening to Our Khāharān: Supporting Revolution in Diaspora

In late September 2022, I saw something that I have never seen before — an entire international discourse regarding the future of Iranian women and an Instagram timeline flooded with images of Iran.

Growing up, I always wished Iran could find its way into normal conversations. It felt confusing to be connected to a land and a culture that I had nobody to discuss with. I never had any Persian friends, and wanted people to understand situations in Iran that make the lived experiences of me and my family much harder — especially when it comes to Americans understanding how difficult my family’s lives became due to American policy. But conversations about Iran often became more confusing or defensive than educational and beneficial, and I began to avoid them.

But this largely changed in the fall of 2022 with the tragic murder of Jina (Mahsa) Amini1. High profile celebrities, ordinary people, activists, journalists, and more began posting about Amini’s murder after the news of her death spread. Amini was a 22 year old Iranian Kurdish woman who died in the hospital after the regime’s so-called “morality police” arrested her for violating hijab laws. Women in Iran have been subject to mandatory hijab laws — among other things — since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Amini’s death — and state officials’ attempt to obscure the facts regarding it — immediately led to protests. In a majority Muslim nation, the outcry was not aimed at religion itself, but the use of religion to police women and justify harassment and violent behavior towards them. And it didn’t take long before the protests spread outside of Iran into most major cities worldwide. Globally, Amini became a symbol for international solidarity and hope.

Amini is part of a much larger history most Iranian women are deeply familiar with — a history where women are deeply afraid in public spaces be- cause daily interactions can quickly escalate without reason. It is a history that aims to control women’s bodies, minds, and voices. It instilled fear in many Iranians back home and contains deep misconceptions abroad as well as the diaspora.

With the outcry surrounding Amini’s death, my childhood hope of a visible Iran came true and the women of Iran were finally being recognized for their bravery. However, it quickly became clear that the way we talk about Iran in the Western world has tangible impacts, and reemerging misconceptions fuel a vicious cycle that harms Iran.

Now, my initial wish has changed. I am deeply touched and inspired, yet I fear a discourse that potentially, and even unconsciously, could harm Iranian women once again. I hope that instead of simply talking about Iran, we listen to Iran.

Discussions about Iran, especially within the United States, often misrepresent the issue through generalizations or blatant misinformation. Gathering genuine information on Iran is particularly difficult — for starters, the internet in Iran was immediately shut down after the Amini protests began, and gathering credible primary sources is a constant struggle. And while we cannot control the information exiting Iran, it is the responsibility of us outside of Iran to avoid harmful stereotypes and disinformation that stifles the movement.

The first false narrative we often see in the US is when the issues in Iran are framed as an issue of Islam versus democracy — or rather any religious issue in general. The women in the streets of Iran are not attempting to separate themselves from Islam. The revolution is directly targeted at the regime. Furthermore, it is a perversion of religion to equate the problems at hand with it. The often quoted Quaranic excerpt, “There is no compulsion in religion,”

1 Amini was an Iranian woman of Kurdish origin. Her Kurdish name is Jina but the Islamic Republic required her to legally register under a Persian name. Using her preferred name, rather than her imposed name, is a nod to Jina’s Kurdish heritage and the ongoing struggles Kurdish Iranian citizens face at the hands of the Islamic Republic.

(Al-Baqarah, 256) stands with the women. To use these women as an excuse to denounce Islam is blatantly Islamaphobic and misconstrues the message of the movement.

People often say, “Why doesn’t the Islamic Republic just meet these demands and make the hijab non compulsory?” — under the belief that this simple demand will allow them to keep their power and send the protesters home with minimal loss. But this question is not situated within the context of the hijab in Iran. The hijab is deeply tied to how the regime is able to have power. Mandatory hijab was not the direct outcome of the 1979 revolution and was instituted later in 1983 when the Iraq-Iran war was underway and those leaders needed to increase their power post-revolution. It served as a daily reminder that they were pledging allegiance to this new republic, particularly in tumultuous times. A narrative that women not wearing hijabs are also disrespecting the martyrs who died for their freedom in the war complicated the role of this once-religious article and added political implications to hair covering. For many, wearing the hijab was a physical manifestation of saluting the nation and its troops.

Conversations in the Western world regarding the Middle East fall into a trap of East vs. West — often depicted as moral vs. immoral — and Iran is no exception. Iran is continually viewed as a state of oppression- a land that hates women, denies basic freedoms, and creates terrorists. Death and destruction in Iran is normal and expected — it is part of its inherent nature, and death tolls are not counted because these deaths are not “shocking.” Because of this, Iran deserves pity from those of us in the “civilized” Western world. This could be its own entire article (but is probably just best explained in Edward Said’s Orientalism), but narratives of Iran that point fingers towards the nation without understanding Iran within a global context will continue to misrepresent the history and politics.

The censorship of information coming out of Iran is a contributing factor, but the media continues to portray the Islamic Republic as deranged individuals predisposed to killing their people — an assumption never made about Western leaders. It also removes the agency of Iranians, assuming that being against the Republic makes you pro-Americarather than being an individual Iranian citizen with demands. They assume that the future Iranians desire is one based in Eurocentric ideals of nation-building, rather than a vision that continues to be based in Iranian heritage.

Western media continually looks down on Iran as a place lacking democracy without acknowledging the very clear role the West has played in sabotaging the moments of hope and democracy that it did have. And without the interference of the United States (such as the CIA-led coup that overthrew Iran’s only democratically-elected leader, Mohammad Mosaddegh) it is possible Iranian democratic movements could have continued, although there is no genuine way to know. But one thing is for sure: these narratives are conveniently ignored in the West, but continually felt in Iran.

While a historical analysis of current politics is crucial to a genuine understanding of the situation, these politics have not dramatically changed. While Europe and the U.S. have vocally supported the women in Iran, their actions show otherwise. President Biden claims to support the women in Iran while simultaneously keeping Iranian sanctions in place. Sanctions have continually been shown to harm women and children the most2. Europe has shown a similar level of hypocrisy and imposed new sanctions in addition to passing an unofficial ban restricting Iranians from accessing a European Visa, citing fears of mass migration3. Political officials are using Iranian women as an opportunity to seem feminist without doing anything tangible to help with their situation or even changing policies that actively repress them. To genuinely stand with the women of Iran is not a performative act. It requires us to listen to them and denounce polities like sanctions and immigration bans that perpetuate their status as second class citizens. Sanctions further oppression in countless ways, but even today, those of us within the U.S. are unable to send basic necessities like money and medical supplies to those protesting on the ground. And although the American government perpetuates the belief that sanctions are targeting those in power, protesters in Iran are targeted because international solidarity with them is limited. When war breaks out in Europe, money floods into the nations affected, but when Iranians are executed by their own government, the State Department deems it illegal to send them financial support.

2 “Unilateral Sanctions Hurt All, Especially Women, Children and Other Vulnerable Groups – UN Human Rights Expert.” OHCHR, United Nations, 8 Dec. 2021, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/12/unilateral-sanctions-hurt-all-especially-women-children-and-other-vulnerable.

3 “Iranians Denounce European Embassies for Halting Visa Applications amid Unrest.” Middle East Eye, Middle East Eye, 12 Oct. 2022, https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/schengen-iran-denounce-europe-embassies-halting-visa-applications.

In this moment, it is crucial to not fall into traps that have fueled a vicious cycle in Iran — a cycle where the world claims to support them but continues to harm Iran and the women there the most. This is a call for genuine support — not momentary press statements and empty gestures. And this is not the sole responsibility of non-Iranians. Even within the diaspora, narratives riddled with Islamophobia, imperialism, and disinformation thrive. Non-Muslim Iranians in the West incorrectly blame Islam, and many advocate for the return of the Shah — while the protesters in the streets of Iran are clearly stating “down with all oppression, from the Shah to the rahbar.” This is a movement for future liberation: not a step into the past. The call for the Shah’s return through his son, a call heard most prominently in the diaspora, is a whitewashing of the actual history of the Shah. Evin Prison, the prison that many rightfully denounce as horrific and which recently gained attention when it caught on fire in mid-October4, was built by the Shah to jail his opposition.

This moment is for Iran, not the West or anyone outside of the nation. Continuing to support them and providing the support they ask for is crucial to avoid the mistakes we have made in the past — espe- cially in regards to Western intervention, which has further destabilized the region. Nearby nations like Iraq and Syria had protests shut down with the help of the U.S., and real grievances made by citizens against their governments were hijacked by those involved in a gruesome war to exploit resources. For the first time in recent history, women in Iran have the opportunity to be heard on their terms. Iranian women do not need our pity, they need our attention. They are asking for amplification, not pity. Nobody should have to die in silence. What is happening in Iran is a largescale intersectional feminist movement where women from throughout the nation are not just fighting for the end of the morality police — they are fighting for freedom and basic needs. The call is no longer about reform, it is blossoming into a revolution. It is advocating for a reworking of the entire system, and of course this will leave the people of Iran in a vulnerable position as changes are made.

Ericka Huggins, a former member of the Black Panthers, told a fellow UC Berkeley student during a conference in October, “Do not blame yourself as a student if you do not know the full story. Certain things have been intentionally written out of history.” For so long, especially in the West, this has been true about Iran and its women. We have the opportunity to create a new history. But we must continue to learn. Having conversations regarding Iran is often difficult because of the segments left out of history. Understanding how those most affected are often the least considered is crucial to moving forward in a positive direction. Ultimately, the best way to support Iran is to listen to those within its borders.

4 Ghobadi, Parham, et al. “Evin Prison Fire: Several Dead after Fire at Iran’s Notorious Detention Centre.” BBC News, BBC, 16 Oct. 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63271817.