🌹IRAN VS THE “ISLAMIC” REPUBLIC 🩸   

A DIRECTORY

⇨ INFO ⚭ ACTIONS ⚭ RESOURCES ⇦

Organized & updated May 2025

(adding and reorganizing as needed)

📌 PINNED

  • THE IRANIST a great, organized substack for ongoing updates

🗞️ OVERVIEW

  • [Video] PBS FRONTLINE | Inside the Iranian Uprising - 06/29/23
  • [Video] RISE | A 10min short film depicting the brutality of the Islamic Republic  - 03/20/23

🎧 PODCAST EPS

📝 SEVENTY YR HISTORICAL RECAP -

⧫ 1953 Coup d’etat / or listen to this NPR segment about how the CIA overthrew Iran’s Democracy in 4 days in 1953

⧍ 1979 Revolution / TIMELINE OF EVENTS

⧍ 2009 Green Movement

⧍ 2019-2020 Protests

⧍ Iranian 2022 Revolution Timeline 

⧍ Timeline of Iranian Protests 1978-2023

⧫ [Video] IMPERIAL | How Revolution and Dictatorship Shaped Iran’s Protests 24 min explanation of Iran’s history & current reality

⤚ SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE ARTICLES/ TEACH INS / RECORDED DISCUSSIONS / ETC

📢 T O   C L A R I F Y  📢

This IS NOT a conflict with Islam. Humanity should honor all faiths and the right to embrace one's beliefs, detached from power and violence.

 This is about the fundamental freedom to express oneself - be it religiously, politically, spiritually, sexually, intellectually - it's about basic human rights.

It might be confusing that the word “Islam” is in “The Islamic Republic of Iran,” but the “Islamic” Republic of Iran is a hardline theocracy with an oppressive & violent Revolutionary Guard Corps that co-opted the word “Islam” for its own agenda & control. It was named by Khomeini - its first supreme leader (not to be confused with the current supreme leader, Khamenei,… think of it as “Bryan” and “Ryan”) - who came back from EXILE after the Shah was overthrown in ‘79, and seized power promising not a clerical despotism, but a democratic republic. However, once in power, he created a clerical despotism that exists in Iran to this day.

The “Islamic” Republic and their Revolutionary Guard Corps are a threat to Iranians everywhere, inside and outside, putting all their injustices under the guise of religion. It's essential not to be misled by their facade; they do not uphold virtue but rather use a twisted interpretation of religion to serve their oppressive and tyrannical agenda.

The people rejected the Shah AND they reject the “Islamic Republic” as well

People have tried to push for reform but it has FAILED because the Islamic Republic rules with an IRON FIST with no regard for freedom, liberty or human rights, it is NOT reformable. That is why the people are demanding an END to this Regime. This small, oppressive group of religious hardliners have run an entire country of ethnically & religiously diverse people for 4 decades now through discrimination, state sponsored violence, control, erasure and patriarchy.

The people demand CHANGE.

🥀 The Islamic Republic is NOT Iran, the Iranian people are Iran.

 The Regimes greatest victims are the Iranian people

🚨Advice from a civil society activist and strategist here 🚨

🔊 SEVEN ACTIONS 🔊

1️⃣. AMPLIFY & SHARE 

@iraniansolidarityproject

@diasporaforiran 

@smohyeddin 

@middleeastmatters 

@united4Mahsa 

@from___iran

@iranians4collectiveliberation

2️⃣. CONTACT YOUR OFFICIALS & urge them to ACT in support of Iranians, not the Iranian Regime.

  • CONGRESS WORKS FOR YOU! Find your REPS HERE & SENATORS HERE. Once you find them CLICK HERE to generate an automatic political email on your behalf or copy and paste the template below in an email. If you call, you can request one simple thing - to impose the Magnitsky sanctions against the Islamic Republic (to understand Iran Legislation for yourself, read about it in detail HERE to make informed choices). Tell them to remove their support for MEK (if applicable).
  • Your Reps can take on Political Sponsorship. The “Political Sponsors” from any country/region can inform the press and social media about the situation of the political prisoner. They put pressure on the regime by following up the prisoner’s status and standing up for him/her/them. Follow the steps explained HERE to send a pre-written email to your reps urging them to take on political prisoners in Iran.
  • Contact FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE - 202-226-8467 - tell them to hold another meeting about the Islamic Republic and hold them accountable for their crimes against humanity and support for terrorism
  • Contact info for NEW AGENCIES HERE, urge them to cover what’s happening with more consistency & transparency, CLICK HERE to generate an automatic news agency email.

⇩ TEMPLATE  ⇩ WHAT TO SAY/WRITE TO YOUR OFFICIALS IF YOU CALL OR EMAIL ⇩ (modify as you see fit) –

Introduce yourself: Hello, my name is [insert your name], I'm a constituent from [insert your state], zip code [insert your zip code].

State the issue at hand: As you may know, there is a human rights crisis occurring in Iran, at this very moment.  Jina Mahsa Amini, a twenty-two-year-old Kurdish woman was brutally murdered in the custody of Iran's Morality Police, due to improper dressing; ultimately “disobeying” Iran's strict but purposefully inconsistent implementations of its “morality” laws. This is not new for the Islamic Regime, but her death has sparked a powerful movement in Iran, and the Iranian people are currently in the streets protesting for Regime change (not reform, but CHANGE), resulting in their own violent deaths. Although this was the precursor for the movement, Iranians are protesting for their basic human rights and freedoms; which have been withheld from them for at least forty years +. Despite Iran's current police brutality, Iranian people are courageously fighting, with limited resources, internet blackouts and lack of external support. However, you can help in this regard -

Actionable Tasks for the Representatives: As a United States citizen, I am asking Representative, [Name of Representative] for the following action: Show support, through amplification of Iranian voices, to your respective audiences. We urge US President, Joe Biden, and our government to hold Iranian officials accountable for their barbaric violence against demonstrators, protestors, and their families,  as well as condemning the long list of the Islamic Republic’s human rights violations. Our government has a role to play in helping the Iranian people in the following way:

  1. Open your doors to Iranian dissents and expedite asylum cases. Provide assistance to Iranians fleeing persecution.
  2. Support the oil workers on strike so that they can continue striking, and any other industry on strike inside Iran.
  3. Urge Tech Companies to make communication tools available to Iran to keep them online. KEEP IRAN ONLINE.
  4. Increase funding on private television broadcasting from Iranian expats.
  5. Recall all Ambassadors & Diplomats from the Islamic Republic and stop negotiating with the Regime
  6. * Designate the Revolutionary Guards as a Terrorist Organization, if not already implemented

* Here are some reasons, amongst many others, as to why the IRGC is a terrorist organization:

- They are one of the largest state-sponsors of terrorism in the world.

- Supplying arms and drones to Russia in order to target and kill innocent Ukrainian civilians.

- Responsible for shooting down Ukrainian Flight 752 with two surface-to-air missiles, killing all 176 passengers and crew aboard.

- Responsible for the promotion of extremism and radicalisation through its global networks of religious centers, under the umbrella of the Al-Mustafa International University.

- The power that underpins the regime has the highest number of executions per-capita in the world.

- Responsible for kidnapping & executing journalists & dual nationals, including multiple assassinations outside of Iran.

- Recruiting members of organized crime groups to target opponents of the regime on Western soil.

- Main supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah

- Harmed freedom of the press by attempting attacks on Western-based Iranian news channels.

- Cyber attacks against critical national infrastructure.

- Hostage-taking policy, arbitrarily detaining dual nationals to use as bargaining chips.

[In conclusion]: Thank you, Representative [Name of Representative] for your time and consideration regarding this global issue.

3️⃣. DONATIONS Consider the below -

🔺VPN to Iran

  • DiscoTehran / You can donate via PayPal discotehran@gmail.com and Venmo @ disco-tehran. Important: please do not mention TEHRAN or IRAN in the transactions as it will block the funds
  • 3 Anonymous Engineers (the identities verified by reliable sources) host the internet for 300,000+ people in Iran. For every dollar you donate, you fund the internet for 1,500 people for one day. Donate through any of these three ways - Venmo @dibagram, Paypal: thegeev@gmail.com, Zelle +14088096193

🔺Human Rights Orgs 

🔺Volunteer Support on the ground

  • @FORALLOFIRAN - a group of individuals raising money for volunteers in Iran. Support goes to single mothers, the disabled, childern wihtout gaurdians, people affected by natural disasters, etc.  Donate here.

🔺 In Pursuit of Justice

PS752 Justice - your donations here help the families of the victims of passenger Flight PS752 pursue justice (passenger Flight PS752 was shot down by the IRGC killing all women, children and men on board)

🔺Artists Support

  • Iranian Artists Support Project provides support necessary for Iranian’s at risk with pro bono immigration representation, resettlement assistance and ongoing support post relocation

🔺Trauma Training and Support 

🔺NGOs within the country

4️⃣.  PETITIONS

5️⃣. JOIN PROTESTS in your city to show your support & solidarity. It matters and it helps. ⇩Artwork for signs below⇩ 

6️⃣. INTERNET BLACKOUTS During uprisings in Iran, cutting the internet is a state strategy. The less information the world receives, the more atrocities they commit with impunity. Help keep the internet alive despite state sponsored shutdowns.

➪ Turn on snowflakes/https:/ 

➪ There is also GitHub.com

➪ DiscoTehran is raising money to provide VPN connections to the people of Iran, via PayPal discotehran@gmail.com or Venmo @disco-tehran. Important: please do not mention TEHRAN or IRAN in the transactions as it will block the funds due to sanctions, you can simply say “support.”

➪ 3 Anonymous Engineers (the identities verified by reliable sources) host the internet for 300,000+ people in Iran. For every dollar you donate, you fund the internet for 1,500 people for one day. Donate through any of these three ways - Venmo @dibagram, Paypal: thegeev@gmail.com, Zelle +14088096193. Important: please do not mention TEHRAN or IRAN in the transactions as it will block the funds due to sanctions, you can simply say “support.”

🌐⚖️✅ EFFECTS OF ORGANIZING/ACTIONS/PUBLIC PRESSURE ✅⚖️🌐 small steps…

  • On April 23, 2024, the US Senate almost unanimously passed a foreign aid package, including the Mahsa Amini Human Rights and Security Accountability Act (MAHSA Act) (PAAIA). The MAHSA Act targets Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office and those affiliated with it. The bill, which was first introduced to the US Congress in January 2023, was one of several introduced following the murder of Mahsa Jina Amini in September 2022 at the hands of the so-called morality police that prompted the Women, Life, Freedom uprising
  • Shervin Hajipours ‘Baraye’ won the Blue Ribbon Grammy Merit Award for Best Song for Social Change at the 65th Grammys Award Show, presented by The First Lady of the US
  • 29 countries - after pressure from Iranian women, activists and allies - voted in favor of removing the Islamic Republic from the UN Commission on the Status of Women; it is the first time in HISTORY that a country is removed from this commission - read more here 
  • The UN Human Rights Council convened in an emergency special session on the situation of human rights in Iran. They voted to create a fact finding mission to investigate human rights violations in Iran, also for the first time in history  - read more here 
  • 🇫🇷French Senators have officially requested the EU to close Iranian banks and ban the passage of planes as well as abandon JCPOA - read here 
  • 🇪🇺The President of the European Parliament says the EU will, effective immediately, cut all communication with the Islamic Republic
  • 🇬🇧The UK is set to proscribe Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group - read more here 
  • 🇨🇦Canada has BANNED senior Islamic Republic officials due to terrorism & human rights abuses, also targeting sanction on specific individuals - read more here
  • 🇩🇪Germany has convened an urgent UNHRC session to create an investigation of the Islamic Republic, it has also halted trade guarantees for Iran - read more here 
  • 🇺🇲The US imposed new sanctions on Iranian officials over crackdown on protests, read more here 
  • 🌏We have seen record breaking worldwide protests alongside the ones happening in Iran. The Berlin protest in particular was the largest protest against the Islamic Republic of Iran on record with over 80,000 attendants
  • 🇸🇪Over 35 Swedish academic organizations have publicly condemned the actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran against its students and called on the government to protect students who flee the country by creating a Students at Risk program
  • 🇳🇿New Zealand announces travel bans on Iranian Security Forces - read more here
  • Mahsa Amini’s name has become one of the most retweeted hashtags on Persian Twitter, exceeding 80 million

📲  A  R  C  H  I  V  E   📜 

❌ CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY ❌

🤫 SHADY BUSINESS/ CONTROL  🤬 

CNN Business | Iran’s Govt Accesses The Social Media Accounts of Those it Detains - 12/19/22

Independent | How Iran is Trying to Use the World Cup to Stifle Protests - 11/29/22

CNN | Iran Threatened Members of National Soccer Team - 11/29/22

Newsweek | Iran MP Who Voted to Execute Protestors at UN During Human Rights Talks - 11/11/22

Al Mayadeen | Media Conspiring to Weaken Iran - 11/07/22

*Evin Prison holds Iran’s brightest and best minds - hostages, dual nationals, political activists, environmental activists, human rights lawyers etc.  There is no due process at Evin (as well as  other jails in the country), no checks and balances. They act with impunity and oftentimes abduct and kidnap people (along with their lawyers) to detain them. They torture and rape people, with no regard for human rights. The long term impact of Islamic Republic jail tactics  has been horrific for the Iranian people and diaspora.

🏫 TEACH INS / RESOURCES

🗣️ LIVE DISCUSSIONS

📰 MISC ARTICLES

✍🏼 PERSONAL ESSAYS

🎥 MOVIES / SERIES

  • Hit The Road | Panah Panahi’ feature debut - this film touches family, the complications of living in modern day Iran and its limitations on reaching one's potential and exile
  • Holy Spider | Ali Abbasi directs a thriller about a female journalist in Iran that descends into the dark underbelly of the holy city of Mahshad - based on a true story
  • Leila’s Brothers | Saeed Roustayi constructs a narrative about intergenerational drama and family conflict as well as the struggles of Iranian society  
  • 7 Winters in Tehran | Follows a female student who was hanged for murder acting in self defense against her rapist
  • Persepolis - The Animation, Persepolis 1 - The Story of a Childhood, Persepolis 2 - The Story of a Return - Marjane Satrapi’s animated poignant story of a young girl during the ‘79 revolution and the aftermath of its efforts, which was hijacked by the Islamic Republic.
  • HOSTAGES - chronicle of one of the most dramatic deadlocks, deep dive into geo political history that led to the crisis, and a look at the political fallout that remains today

🎧PODCASTS

↳ SHORT NEWS PODCASTS

↳ LONGER PODCASTS/DISCUSSIONS for deeper understanding

↳ MULTI EPISODE STORYTELLING PODCASTS

  • 544 Days - 9 episode series about the 544 days Jason Rezaian was held hostage in Iran’s notorious Evin prison. Interrogated and sealed off from the outside world, he was accused of being an American spy, though he was a Washington Post Tehran Correspondent. This is a story about government and family and journalism, and what it took to free an innocent man… all while navigating the high-stakes world of nuclear diplomacy.
  • The Hopeful Podcast by Shayda Omidvar - a 6 episode podcast that looks at immigration post ‘79 Iranian Revolution, told through personal narrative.
  • The Dig| w/Eskandar Sadeghi & Golnar Nikpou: IN DEPTH 5 part series looking at historical political events of the last 120 years of Iran - Oct to  Nov 22

        | Iran: 1906-1941 Qajar Rule, Constitutional Revolution + Civil Wars, Imperial Occupations, Pahlavi Dynasty

        | Iran: 1941-1953 Tudeh, Mossadegh, Oil & the CIA-MI6 Coup

            | Iran: 1953-1979 From the Shah to the Islamic Revolution

        | Iran: 1979-1997 Islamic Republic, War and Thermidor

        | Iran: 1997-2022 Reform, Reaction and Crisis

↳ PERSONAL STORYTELLING FROM DIASPORA MEMBERS, ADVOCATES AND ACTIVISTS

🆘 TO SILENCE UNARMED PROTESTORS IN THIS CURRENT MOVEMENT, WHILE IN DEFENSE MODE, THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC HAS  🆘:

  • At the year mark of Jina Mahsa Amini’s murder, it is reported that the IR has killed 551+ protestors [childrens death toll 68 / womens death toll 49) *Info gathered by IHRNGO, the numbers are likely to be much higher. Detailed graphics at HERE.
  • Harassing, detaining, and imprisoning grieving family members of killed protestors, destroying grave sights, silencing grieving families from coming forward with their accounts through fear tactics and threats
  • Deliberately poisoned Iranian schoolgirls using chemical compounds in order to push for the closure of schools . Read more HERE.
  • Cut off gas and electric piping in cities like Torbat Jam, in winter temperatures of 3C/37F
  • Used martial-style, harsh clampdown methods at gatherings in cemeteries at the 40 remembrances of murdered protestors, using live ammunition and brutal repression, again and again. The IRGC’s most recent being in Javanrud.
  • Begun carrying out executions by way of STATE LYNCHINGS of protestors as a brutal tactic to suppress the people.  There is no judicial process. The protestors are not allowed to pick their lawyers. They are not allowed to see evidence against them. They are not allowed to appeal the death sentence. They are tortured until they give forced confessions. They are put in show trials that take place in kangaroo courts and their families are told to keep quiet in exchange for appeals, yet families are caught off guard when Iran’s Regime decides to suddenly, with no notice, hang their children. With complete impunity.
  • Sedated prisoners with dependence forming psychiatric drugs and then withheld the drug and put them in solitary confinement as a form of torture, side effect of withholding the drugs is thoughts of suicide which is the intent, reliveing the Regime of any responsibility or accountability
  • Given their forces the stimulant Captagon (psychotropic pills known as jihadi pills) to provide a synthetic feeling of fearlessness so they increase their violence and oppression over the people & prisoners
  • Used systematic sexual assault and rape as a way to control, traumatize and punish women and men in jail, as well as consistently moving people around from one jail to another so families can’t locate their children.
  • Used threats, arrests, and pay rises to silence workers during general strikes
  • Deliberately poisoned the cafeteria food of 1200 Iranian Students at Kharazmi and Ark University the night before planned protests
  • Ordered police to shoot people in one eye, forcing them to seek medical attention, and once in hospitals kidnapping them and taking them to prisons. As a result of their missing eye, they will always be easily identifiable to police as protestors leading to future unrelenting harassment.
  • Threatened families of the national soccer team, paid people to attend the World Cup in Qatar on behalf of Iran, as well as hired propaganda models, to fill the stadiums & show “support” for the Regime, while denying entry to anyone showing solidarity with the protests in Iran.
  • Attacked unarmed citizens of Mahabad with machine guns & military weapons. Internet and electricity were taken down in the bloody attack. Sounds of explosions were heard in Marivan, Baneh, Saqqez and Bukan.
  • 227 of Iran’s 290 members of Parliament have signed an open letter calling for protesters (currently 19,000+ detained) to be taught a “good lesson” (i.e. execution) 
  • Kidnapped protestors identified through facial recognition software, physically assaulted protestors, shot them, and unjustly incarcerated 19,500+ citizens. While incarcerated the people have been tortured, raped, physically assaulted and refused medical treatment. In some cases, torturing detained people to death to obtain forced confessions
  • Shutdown of the internet to stop information sharing as well as surveillance and manipulation of protestors mobile phones
  • Opened fire & massacred people during Friday prayer outside of a mosque in Zahedan killing at least 82 pp with hundreds injured
  • Dispatched masses of security forces to Sandandaj, Kurdistan where sources say the city has become a war zone and is cut off from everywhere else. Kurdistan is being targeted with extreme violence
  • Raided high schools and elementary schools to kidnap students as well as force students to chant pro regime songs with beatings, sometimes fatal, if they refuse
  • Shot into people's homes as well as broken into homes
  • Coerced public “confessions” from relatives of murdered protestors to shift blame for cause of death while threatening their lives and safety if they speak truth to power, all the while refusing to return the bodies of deceased loved ones
  • Hijacked ambulances to arrest injured protestors and discreetly transport weapons and security forces / placed spies in hospitals to detain protestors seeking medical attention
  • Held students at Sharif University hostage and kidnapped many, detaining them at Evin Prison
  • Incarcerated celebrities, artists, athletes, journalists and anyone standing in solidarity with the people
  • On Oct 15th, officials shot at “prisoners” trying to escape a FIRE in Evin Prison, the cause of the fire is still unknown although evidence points to the Regime. Many were injured & killed. **the numbers will always be higher than what the State reports

🔎 REVIEW OF THE SITUATION 🔍

🔴 One Year after the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini, women in major cities continue to resist mandated hijab laws by going out in public uncovered, even though these acts carry severe punishments/fines as well as lengthy prison sentences

🔴 Nationwide General Strikes shows the labor movements intersection with protests. More than 50 cities have been verified in participating. General strikes are the most important tool used to dismantle dictatorships. By bringing Iran’s already fragile economy to a standstill, repeated nationwide strikes can have sweeping effects

🔴 Esfahan Steel Company workers went on strike on the 3rd anniversary of Bloody November

🔴 The Petrochemical workers on strike are breaking the back of the Islamic Republic’s key industry vital for its economic survival

🔴 Students in universities are resisting and there are daily protests

🔴 Students in schools are writing slogans and being severely suppressed by school administrators and officials

🔴 Protests and solidarity between people in small and big cities is intensifying

🔴 Iranians living abroad are gathering constantly and publishing news internationally and widely in all media

✨WE APPRECIATE YOU, THANK YOU ✨