Female activists in Iran demand Khamenei to step down

Sherif Abdel Zaher

In an open letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, fourteen women’s rights activists have called upon him to step down and pave the way for a transition towards a new political system for Iran.

Referring to a similar demand presented by fourteen political activists last month, the signatories to the new letter published August 5 have also protested what they described as “gender apartheid” and “patriarchal approach” dominating the country.

“Four decades of this theocracy has eliminated the rights of half of the country’s population,” the women’s rights activists have asserted, calling for “civil and non-violent measures” to leave behind “this anti-women system,” and compose a new constitution for Iran.

All fourteen activists reside in Iran, which makes their action extremely dangerous for their freedom and safety.

Insisting on the necessity of a new political governing system for the country, the signatories to the letter have asserted they would carry on their campaign against the current situation to the end.

“We, fourteen civil rights and women’s rights activists, are determined to continue our combat until victory through civil and non-violent measures. Like other pioneers [of non-violent freedom fighters], we go ahead by chanting ‘no to the Islamic Republic,’ the letter said.

Women in Iran have endured 40 years of discrimination, the activists added that they cannot tolerate this degree of discrimination any longer.

Furthermore, the letter has singled out “systemic tyranny and irresponsibility” as the leading cause of Iran’s problems and the current chaotic situation in the country.

There are two main opposition groups in Iran, namely the People’s Mujahedin of Iran and the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz.

A group of Arab tribes live in the northwestern province of Ahvaz with a total population of eight million, including 95% of Arabs, living on an area of 340,000 square kilometers, more than all of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine.

In 2017, Iranian opposition figures announced the formation of a coalition in Germany to bring down the Mullahs and establish a federal democratic regime instead. The statement by the coalition said that the theocratic religious system in Tehran has proven irreparable after four decades of authoritarian and sectarian ruling.

Iranian authorities have arrested many women in their prisons for their strong opposition to the mullahs’ judiciary system and women’s rights in the Iranian society.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested in April 2016 at a Tehran airport as she headed back to Britain with her daughter after a family visit.

She was sentenced after being convicted of plotting to overthrow Iran’s clerical establishment, a charge denied by her family and the Foundation, a charity organization that operates independently of Thomson Reuters and Reuters News.

Nisreen Mustafa, a specialist in Iran affairs, told The Reference in an interview that the Mullahs regime contributed significantly in the emergence of a strong opposition, thanks to the deteriorating internal economic and political situations. She pointed out that tension has risen unprecedently because of a large crisis within the current regime.

Mustafa added that the Mullahs regime is so stubborn and will keep on increasing its military and uranium enrichment capabilities, adding that the Iranian community has been suffering high unemployment rates and an acute economic recession.

She further clarified that the opposition must stand with Iranian citizens and that we shall be witnessing more activities by the Iranian opposition, and this time, it will not be just promotional.