Iran: Vabaduse võitlus

The 1979 Revolution didn't start as a theocracy. It began as a massive, messy coalition. Leftists, nationalists, intellectuals, and clerics stood together with one goal: getting rid of the Shah. But the moment the monarchy fell, that unity evaporated. When Ayatollah Khomeini returned, his faction moved fast to push everyone else out. By the time the referendum happened a few months later, the choice was binary and the result was sealed. They used the chaos to install a constitution built around the absolute power of the clergy.

After returning from exile, Ruhollah Khomeini and his allies moved decisively to monopolize power. Rather than allowing a pluralistic political system to emerge, they dismantled rival centers of influence. Revolutionary courts were established almost immediately. These courts operated without basic due process and issued death sentences after summary trials. Human rights organizations have documented that executions began within weeks of the revolution and continued at scale throughout the early 1980s.

The new constitution formalized clerical rule through the doctrine of Velayat-e Faqih, placing ultimate authority in the hands of an unelected Supreme Leader. Political power was removed from public accountability and concentrated within religious and security institutions. Central among them was the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which evolved into a powerful force responsible not only for external defense but for internal repression and ideological enforcement.

Throughout the 1980s, thousands of political opponents were arrested, tortured, and executed. Vague charges such as "enmity against God" (moharebeh) or "corruption on Earth" were routinely used to criminalize dissent. According to Amnesty International, these executions followed grossly unfair trials and were designed to eliminate opposition rather than deliver justice.

The most extreme episode came in 1988, when the authorities secretly executed thousands of political prisoners over the course of a few weeks. Many of those killed were already serving prison sentences. Families were never informed of burial locations, and mass graves were concealed or destroyed. Amnesty International has described these killings as crimes under international law and has repeatedly warned that the lack of accountability has entrenched a culture of impunity.

Over the next four decades, every major protest movement was met with escalating violence: student uprisings in 1999, the Green Movement in 2009, nationwide protests in 2017–18, the fuel protests of 2019, the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising in 2022, and the current wave of protests in 2025–2026. Each time, the response was the same: live ammunition, mass arrests, torture, televised forced confessions, and executions designed to terrorize society into submission.

This pattern has been consistently documented by international monitors. Human Rights Watch has reported the routine use of unlawful lethal force against protesters and systematic abuse in detention centers. Iran remains one of the world's leading executioners. Reporting by the Associated Press and findings from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights show that hundreds of executions are carried out each year, often following trials that fail to meet international legal standards.

Over time, repression became structural. Independent media was eliminated, political parties were banned, women were subjected to compulsory veiling enforced through violence, and civil society was placed under constant surveillance. The system survives not through legitimacy or consent, but through fear.

The history of the Islamic Republic shows a consistent pattern. Promises of liberation were followed by the systematic removal of freedoms. Violence was not a reaction to instability. It was the method used to build and maintain power.