Action 5 - No More Silence: Recognizing the Root Causes of Iran’s Domestic Crisis

For years, the Islamic Republic of Iran has pursued a foreign policy that prioritizes regional influence and regime survival over the safety and rights of its own people. While current events have brought war and military strikes into Iranian airspace, it’s vital to recognize a deeper and more persistent suffering that has been unfolding within Iran for months. This crisis did not occur in a vacuum — it emerged from decades of misrule, repression, and a state security apparatus that treats dissent as a crime. Many Iranians see the violence now enveloping the region as a direct result of the Islamic Republic’s policies abroad and at home.

Inside Iran, authorities have responded to public protests with brutal tactics rather than reform. After nationwide demonstrations erupted in response to political and economic grievances, security forces unleashed a campaign of repression. Human rights organizations report that tens of thousands have been arrested on vague “national security” charges for participating in peaceful protests, and many more are subjected to torture, forced disappearances, and unfair trials. Legal experts and analysts describe this as a systematic effort to silence civic space and crush dissent in the aftermath of one of the bloodiest crackdowns since the 1979 revolution. 

The sheer scale of repression is staggering. Independent estimates suggest that well over 50,000 people have been detained, with some sources indicating that more than 100,000 have been arrested or interrogated related to recent protests. Many detainees remain in custody without access to legal counsel or family contact, and in some cases, children and teenagers are among those held.

Doctors, lawyers, teachers, journalists, and caregivers — individuals who were simply trying to help injured protesters or stand for basic dignity — are among those detained. In some cases, health care professionals were targeted for providing medical care to the wounded or speaking out about harassment inside hospitals during the crackdown. This reveals how far repression has extended into everyday civic life.

International human rights authorities have raised urgent alarms. The United Nations human rights experts have called for full disclosure of the fate and whereabouts of all those detained, for halting executions tied to protest charges, and for restoring fundamental legal protections.

In this context, the people of Iran — from students on university campuses to families waiting for news of loved ones — share one emphatic demand: the unconditional release of all political prisoners. This demand is not about partisan politics or foreign intervention; it is about justice, human dignity, and ending the systematic criminalization of basic freedoms.

Now, even as external violence and rhetoric escalate, it’s crucial not to let the narrative be shaped by those who confuse the plight of civilians with geopolitical posturing. The real victims in this moment are not abstract actors in a distant conflict, but the families who have watched their children killed, their relatives taken in the night, and their own lives defined by fear of disappearance.

The Islamic Republic has long used narratives of external threat to justify internal repression — to portray its own citizens as a “shield” for regime security while repressing their voices and stripping away their rights. But in the streets, campuses, and homes across Iran, the people’s shared call is clear: free all political prisoners now.

Only by recognizing the root causes of this crisis — including the legacy of domestic repression and the policies that made such repression possible — can real solidarity with the Iranian people be achieved, and a path forward grounded in justice and human rights be pursued.