An Iranian Hero

“Remember not to turn your back on poetry, on songs, on your loved ones, on your dreams.”

On May 9, 2010, the Islamic Republic executed in secret five people: Farzad Kamangar, Shirin Alam Hooli, Mehdi Eslamian, Ali Heydarian, and Farhad Vakili. These murders took place a year after I had joined the Iranian revolution in the summer of 2009. Although I was less familiar with three of the executed individuals, I was aware that all five were Kurdish.

The Iranian uprisings began in the summer of 2009, sparked by the elections and further fueled by the death of Neda Agha Soltan, who was killed by Islamic Republic forces during street protests. These mass uprisings persisted until 2012. But then, the Islamic Republic’s stabilization project gained momentum, exploiting the Arab Spring to intimidate Iranians into submission with promises of change. The regime also used the threat of ISIS to deter Iranians from pursuing a revolution and protesting against the regime’s interference in the Arab Spring. The Islamic Republic played a significant role in destabilizing countries experiencing mass uprisings and revolutions in the MENA region, either directly or through proxies such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.

This stabilization project lasted until around 2017 when Iranians resumed mass nationwide protests, which…