Smoke rises up behind the Azadi tower following a U.S.-Israeli military strike in Tehran on March 3.Davoud Ghahrdar/The Associated Press
Payam Akhavan is the Human Rights Chair at the University of Toronto’s Massey College, a founder of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, and a former UN prosecutor at The Hague. He was the civil society representative at the UN Human Rights Council Special Session on Iran in Geneva on Jan. 23.
In 2025, during the 12-day war between Israel and the Islamic Republic, the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran was targeted by Israeli rockets as a “symbol of oppression of the Iranian people.” Countless political prisoners have been tortured in this facility, which stands as a monument to decades of violent repression. Yet, amidst the death and destruction, some of the prisoners helped rescue prison guards from the rubble.
Now, amidst the renewed war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28, prison guards have abandoned those same prisoners in locked cells. They face severe shortages of food and water. They have nowhere to escape.
This grim scene captures both the profound tragedy and exceptional heroism of the Iranian people. They struggle to survive amidst relentless bombardment by foreign powers, while still mourning the mass killing of an estimated 30,000 protesters by the Islamic Republic just one month ago.
Some Iranians hoped the war would bring regime change. Now they doubt it
At first, many celebrated the assassination of Ali Khamenei, the tyrannical Supreme Leader responsible for so many atrocities, even as some devout followers mourned his loss. But now, the Islamic Republic is fighting for its survival, and the entire Middle East is engulfed in a highly destructive war, with no apparent strategy. Invariably, it is innocent civilians who have suffered the most.
To the extent that we still believe in the international rule of law, the UN Charter prohibits the use of force, except in self-defence or as a collective security measure authorized by the often dysfunctional Security Council. At the height of the massacres in January, many people, including notable dissidents in Iran, desperately clamoured for humanitarian intervention, invoking the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), which Canada championed in 2000. Even as the horrors of war unfold every day in Iran, many are incensed at the selective outrage of those who remained silent while thousands were exterminated, only to speak out now against the war when it is ideologically convenient. For Iranians, both at home and in the diaspora, this is a time of profound trauma and grief, and of intense rage and division. There are seemingly no good choices.
Where does Iran go from here? The historical evidence is that liberation by bombardment is often a fleeting fantasy. The foreign powers’ attempt at “regime change” is primarily aimed at eliminating Iran’s nuclear capability, and perhaps controlling its petroleum reserves. Freedom is hardly a priority, and the democratic aspirations of Iranians risk being sacrificed at the altar of political expedience, with authoritarian leaders remaining in place so long as a satisfactory deal is struck.
Iran targets commercial ships and Dubai airport as U.S.-Israeli strikes continue
Amidst the carnage, the Iranian people and their historical struggle for a secular democracy has been forgotten. They have tried everything to reclaim their human rights from a totalitarian theocracy: Reforms, referendums, protests, strikes, grassroots campaigns, feminist movements. They have called repeatedly for a non-violent transition and gradual liberalization. They have spoken out against the regime’s extremist ideology that diverts precious resources to support proxies and destabilize the Middle East in the name of hateful sectarianism, rather than promoting regional co-operation and integration. These efforts have been to no avail, and now, as cynical leaders compete for power and self-preservation at the expense of the Iranian people, there is a search for hope amid the despair.
Yet, the astonishing resilience of those fighting for freedom demonstrates the tremendous potential for a future Iran that will allow its people to live in dignity and become a force for progress in the region. The most powerful element in this equation is a youthful, highly educated population with a rich and ancient cultural heritage, whether in the form of Oscar-winning filmmakers and legendary feminist poets, math prodigies and NASA scientists, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and Nobel Peace Prize laureates. In a world afflicted with corruption and divisive ideologies, the courageous protesters and political prisoners in Evin demonstrate a grassroots conception of leadership – a different path for a free and pluralistic Iran – that could be at the epicentre of a peaceful Middle East with shared prosperity from Tehran to Tel Aviv, Gaza to Shiraz.
As naïve as it may seem, we must work toward that dream, confident that the dawn always comes after the darkest moment of the night. In the words of the poet Mahvash Sabet, who suffered many years of unjust imprisonment in Evin: “May your land flourish, your heart leap in ecstasy forever, and your memory rebound with the jubilation of the people of Iran.”