June 12, 2024

As an organization founded and led by an immigrant community that has lived through the perils of war, Iranian American Democrats of California proudly believe in secular democracy, and the defense of civil liberties and human rights doctrines. We persistently advocate for diplomacy as the proper channel for conflict resolution, recognizing that war, imperialism, and modern-day colonialism are directly at odds with our core values and global tenets of peace and collective liberation.

It is for these reasons that we are sounding the alarm on a growing political trend to “celebrate” the Islamic Republic of Iran (hereafter referred to as the “Islamic regime”) as the so-called leader of the “Axis of Resistance” to US hegemony. Let us be clear – we oppose imperialism in all its forms, no matter the perpetrator. But as a community who can testify first-hand to the deplorable conditions wrought by the Islamic regime on the innocent people of Iran since 1979, we are appalled by any notion that seeks to brand the regime as a benevolent or righteous actor.

The Islamic regime is anything but anti-imperialist. They are a government that executes and  incarcerates political, social, and religious dissidents with impunity.  They deny freedom of the press, and subjugate racial and religious minorities to police violence and extrajudicial murder. They deploy a “morality police” to enforce a radical theocratic doctrine that relegates women to second-class citizenship, mandates gender apartheid, and denies women their bodily autonomy. They divest from the social and economic needs of everyday Iranians to finance the draconian Revolutionary Guard Corps (“Sepah”) which actively contributes to regional destabilization and expansion of the Islamic regime’s hegemony. In short, the Sepah are an imperialist force whose charter is to protect the interests of the Islamic regime, not the safety and sovereignty of the Iranian people.

We believe that anyone who stands up to imperialism should be consistent in their opposition – for the minute we begin to waver and make exceptions is the minute we forfeit the integrity of our position. We call on all individuals, regardless of their political affiliations, to heed the calls of the Iranian people who see the Islamic regime for what they truly are – a violent, oppressive, and anti-democratic government that exploits its own citizens and international liberation movements to entrench its own power. We advocate for a bright future for the Iranian people, free from the tyranny of the regime and foreign interference – which have together plagued the country for over a century. We advocate for secular democracy in Iran and everywhere.