While Iran has seen an uninterrupted wave of nationwide protests in the past five months, there are many discussions about what the best path to freedom and democracy in Iran will be. And as Iran marks the 44th anniversary of the 1979 revolution, which saw the ouster of the Shah dictatorship, there are important lessons to be drawn for Iran’s upcoming revolution.
The remnants of the Shah dictatorship suggest that Iran needs to return to the pre-revolution rule of Pahlavi. To back their claims, they are making out-of-context comparisons between the Shah and Khomeini regimes. They are taking advantage of the many heinous crimes of the mullahs’ regime to paint a rosy picture of the Shah era, especially for the younger generation who have seen nothing but the religious fascism of the mullahs. They are trying to portray the 1979 revolution as a mistake, a conspiracy, and a sedition.
And they are using media outlets backed by foreign powers as well as so-called pundits who had—until not long ago—been proponents of the “reformist” figures in Iran to amplify their voice and to argue that there is widespread support for the Shah regime inside Iran. Not unexpectedly, their plans include reaching out to elements within the regime, including the criminal Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and other security forces.
The regime is also giving them ample support through its cyber army and propaganda operations. Knowing that the Shah’s supporters pose no threat to their rule, the regime’s leaders are taking advantage of them in hopes of deviating Iran’s revolution from its true path.
But the people of Iran have proven that they will not be fooled by the current or former regime. They are clearly saying in their protests that the Shah and mullahs’ dictatorships are flip sides of the same coin. Along with “Death to the dictator!” and “Death to Khamenei!” their main slogans include, “Death to the tyrant, be it the Shah or the Supreme Leader!” and “No to monarchy, no to the supreme leader, democracy and equality!” (Expectedly, the remnants of the Shah regime and their promoters in the media censor these slogans to conceal the true face of Iran’s revolution.)
The people of Iran are in the streets today for many of the same reasons that they took to the streets in the months that led to the overthrow of the Shah regime: They are tired of tyranny, corrupt rulers who deprive the people of their freedoms, torture and kill dissidents, and liquidate the country’s resources and wealth to solidify their hold on power.
The people of Iran have fought against the tyranny and corruption of the Pahlavi and mullahs’ regime for more than a century, from the Jungle Movement of Mirza Khuchak Khan to Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh, to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and the Organization of Iranian People’s Fedai Guerrillas (OIPFG). The price of freedom has been paid in blood all along, but its torch has always been passed along to the next generation.
Today, that torch is being carried by the brave Resistance Units, supporters of the MEK who continue to organize and carry out protests and anti-regime activities inside Iran at great risks to their lives.
As we mark the anniversary of the 1979 revolution, the lesson to take away is that Iran’s people will not be forced to choose between bad and worse. They will settle for nothing short of what they deserve: a democratic republic that provides them every opportunity to live a decent life, to enjoy freedom of expression; to have equal opportunities regardless of gender, ethnicity, and religion; to be at peace with their neighbors; and to elect their leaders at the ballot box instead of being forced to live under the rule of an unelected tyrant who inherits his power from religion or his bloodline.
