Where do we stand when both sides are evil?
None of us is unaware of the Islamic Republic’s ambitions. Since its founding, this criminal regime has not only systematically oppressed the people of Iran, stripped them of life, freedom, and any prospect of a future, but also, through its constant invocation of Israel’s elimination, has diverted the country from any path of peace or diplomacy. Through its imperial logic and its proxy forces, it has extended this repression to other countries, including Syria and Lebanon.
Our opposition to the Islamic Republic is neither symbolic nor opportunistic. It is rooted in a principled stance that calls us to resist power, violence, and the humiliation of human beings. Our resistance is not just against the Islamic Republic; it is a defence of values that do not allow atrocities to be repeated under different names while we remain silent. We stand against all forms of reactionary politics—especially now, when mainstream Persian-language media has become a mouthpiece for Israeli propaganda, drowning the news in the fervour of war and reaction.
And precisely for this reason, we cannot speak about this war with caution or by omitting truths. If we fail to name the initiator of the war, if we ignore the political context of the attack, if we overlook Israel’s assault in the midst of nuclear negotiations, we are not opposing war—we are reinforcing the dominant global order and playing a role in sustaining the very systems that make future atrocities possible. If we do not allow anti-war voices—especially those from inside Iran—to be heard, we have handed the space over to outlets like Iran International, which bears a striking resemblance to the far right.
Israel did not attack Iran in a vacuum. At this very moment, as Iranian cities are being bombed, infrastructure destroyed, and civilians killed—while the smoke of war suffocates the marginalised, the elderly, the disabled, and the sick—Gaza is dying of hunger. While this statement is being written, countless cries are heard by no one but those standing within a meter’s distance. Israel has carried out a genocide, constantly testing how far it can push the boundaries. Everything was on the verge of becoming “Hamas”: the building was Hamas, the wall was Hamas, the child was Hamas. These war crimes, along with the silence of the international community and “Western” governments, have given Israel a green light to continue. That silence is no accident—it is tied to their economic-political structure, to market-driven democracies where the arms industry and geopolitical interests outweigh human lives. Just look at Netanyahu’s record, at the legacy of apartheid, and a clear pattern emerges.
What is unfolding is not only an attack on Iran, but on any possibility of dissent. Power structures are always designed so that the voice of the ordinary person—whether in Tehran, Tel Aviv, or Gaza—has no place in decision-making. Even those who oppose their governments pay the heavy price of war without having any chance to intervene in its course.
This open letter, however, in this moment of fire and blood, is a sincere stand against war—not just the war on us, but the logic of war itself, which destroys any possibility of a future. It is a call to reject exceptionalism and recognize human beings’ interconnected fate. We, the undersigned, call on all progressive forces to break their silence on Israel’s role in this situation. We stand with neither Israel and its killing machine, nor the Islamic Republic and its apparatus of repression. But this does not mean we are neutral.
The attack on Iran must stop right now.
Palestine must be free right now.
The propaganda of “human shields” must end right now.
Truly, how can anyone, after each bombing, still believe the unprovable claims of “human shields” or “civilian buildings with military activity,” when Israel has systematically razed Gaza to the ground and taken so many lives under this pretext?
And let us not forget: the very same Western governments, when Iranians at the height of the Jinā revolution demanded the IRGC be designated as a terrorist organization, responded with the evasive “the IRGC is a military institution,” denying the people’s lived reality. But now that Israel is involved, they readily speak of the “right to self-defense” and have no problem with the targeted assassination of IRGC leaders. Our relief at the death of oppressors must not blind us to these double standards.
If there is a voice, it must rise.
If there is a place to stand, it is not between two sides—but beside life.
Wherever you are, raise your voice against war. Stand against what they want to portray as “inevitable.” This war must not be normalized.
No to war. No to imperialism. No to all forms of fascism.
Recent events
-
See where all the votes are coming from
Province Number of signatures Alborz 8 Ardabil 0 Bushehr 0 Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari 0 East Azerbaijan 1 Fars 3 Gilan 5 Golestan 1 Hamadan 0 Hormozgan 0 Ilam 0 Isfahan 6 Kerman 0 Kermanshah 0 Khuzestan 1 Kohgiluyehv And Boyer Ahmad 0 Kurdistan 1 Lorestan 0 Markazi 0 Mazandaran 1 North Khorasan 0 Qazvin 1 Qom 0 Razavi Khorasan 1 Semnan 0 Sistan and Baluchestan 1 South Khorasan 0 Tehran 17 West Azerbaijan 1 Yazd 0 Zanjan 0 This petition has received 203 signatures so far. Approximately 56% of signatures come from Iran. Approximately 44% of signatures come from outside of Iran. Learn how Daadkhast generates signature maps. -
Latest signatures
-
Signed via Telegram -
Signed via Telegram
-
Signed via Telegram
-
Signed via Telegram
-
Signed via Telegram
-
-
A group of civil rights activists started this petition
