The video began with a heart-stopping sound: a sharp crack cutting through chants. There’s blood on the ground. The cries of the crowd, once peacefully begging for a righteous government, now merely beg for their lives as armoured trucks rampage through civilian lives.

Somewhere in Iran, a phone camera shook as people ran, their voices swallowed by gunfire. I watched from the safety of my dorm at USC, able to close the app at any moment, while they could not escape the street. In that moment, freedom no longer felt like an abstract right, but a privilege others are denied. 

My grandmother used to tell me: “Noor hamishe bar tariki pirooz ast,” which translates to “Light always triumphs over darkness,” in Persian. Yet years later, the hopeful light I carried as an 11-year-old diminished against the shadows of oppression cast by the regime over her life. Today, as a Persian student studying at USC, I carry my grandmother’s voice and hardship to shed light on the continued violence millions are surviving.

The Islamic Republic’s regime continues to employ the same violent and repressive tactics as they have since 1979, weaponizing silence and replacing hope with fear. The regime has criminalized and slaughtered all kinds of people, from the LGBTQIA+ community demanding rights to parents asking for economic reforms for their starving children to women asking for equal treatment. 

One of the most gut-wrenching instances of this oppression came in 2022, when “morality police” viciously beat and dragged Mahsa Amini, a woman who allegedly wore her hijab “improperly.” She died from her injuries soon after, and her death triggered a collective scream for Iranians after decades of suffocation. 

The Woman, Life, Freedom movement erupted, and people flooded the streets of Iran filled with desperate, but hopeful courage. They were met with the regime’s brutality and gunshots, and their internet went dark so they could not announce their suffering.  

Despite the brutal fist of the Iranian regime, the people remain unbroken. Simple protests originating from struggling Bazaaris — merchants — have spread throughout the country. According to the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, unrest has reached all 31 provinces to demonstrate their anger with the Islamic Republic’s regime. 

Supporting the people of Iran by amplifying their voices, documenting their struggles and advocating for their freedom is the most urgent expression of our shared humanity. I urge USC students and faculty to spread the word and stand on the right side of history. If Iran’s regime persists, Iranians may never reach peace and the regime will continue to encumber future generations with oppression.

Nothing happens overnight, but as USC students, we have the power to educate ourselves and others on ongoing events to magnify Iranians’ fight against the plague of global authoritarianism. The regime has permanently erased many voices, but we can uplift those who remain. While my light alone can’t light up the dark, our lights of hope can. 

Light always triumphs against darkness.

With love and light,

Milan Mahbod Zadeh

Milan Mahbod Zadeh is a Persian American senior majoring in health and human sciences as well as pursuing a master’s in global medicine.