Shiro-Khorshid-Forever

As I am getting ready to welcome the new Persian year tomorrow (March 20th 2010) I wanted to write down some of my thoughts and reflections about the year that has passed, and my hopes for the new year to come.

This year was a wonderful year for me both personally and professionally. I consider myself very fortunate to be living in Canada, a country that has provided me with numerous opportunities for advancement and for a better life. The most important and precious thing that Canada has given me is my freedom. I have the freedom to speak my mind, express myself and fight for what I believe in without the fear of being imprisoned, raped, tortured and executed.

Unfortunately that is not the case for young men and women in Iran, who face such punishments for peaceful expression of their thoughts and beliefs. I consider this year a victory for Iran and the Iranian people. For the first time in many years the brave Iranian people forced the world to stop and notice them and to hear the voices of opposition against the Islamic Regime. Those strong voices of opposition will no longer be ignored, and they will no longer settle for anything less than a free and democratic Iran.

Whatever little legitimacy the Islamic Regime may have had left, has been completely destroyed by the brave Iranian people who risked their freedom and even their lives in numbers never seen before, to voice their disgust with the Islamic Regime.
For the first time in 30 years people openly shouted slogans such as “death to the Islamic Regime” and “Independence, Freedom, Iranian Republic” making it clear that the Islamic Regime is no longer an acceptable option. This in itself has been the greatest victory for the Iranian people this year, and there is no doubt that the Islamic Regime in its entirety (hardliners and reformers) will not last for much longer.

While I am extremely joyful and proud of the accomplishments of my brave compatriots in Iran, I also do not want to forget those who have lost their lives in the fight against the Islamic Regime. Let’s remember all freedom loving individuals who have been executed by the Islamic Regime in the past 30 years, specifically the 10,000 political prisoners who were executed in 1988, Akbar Mohammadi and Valliollah Feyze Mahdavi who were murdered by the Islamic Regime in prison in 2006, as well as Ehsan Fatahiyan, Fasih Yasamani, Arash Rahmanipour and Reza Ali Zamani, four brave young men executed by the Islamic Regime in the recent months. My thoughts and prayers are with their families who will be spending their first Nowrooz without their beloved children.

My thoughts and prayers are also with the family of Neda Aghasoltan, the young woman who was shot to death during the June protests, and the families of so many other young men and women who have been murdered at the hands of the Regime in the past year.

The night before Nowrooz my thoughts are also with our beloved political prisoners, young men and women who in spite of threats to their lives and freedom have chosen to fight against the Islamic Regime. Let’s remember Kaveh Kermanshahi, Hamed Omidi, Ms. Zeynab Jalaliyan, Ms. Shirin Alam Hooli, Farzad Kamangar, Arzang Davoudi, Mansour Osanloo, Behrouz Javid Tehrani and thousands of other political prisoners who will be spending Nowrooz behind prison bars and away from their families.
I am hopeful that 1389 will be the year that the Islamic Regime, in its entirety will finally be overthrown and we will have a free and democratic Iran. The days for an Independent and Free Iranian Republic is close...

Down with the Islamic Regime

Long Live Freedom in Iran