An Australian writer, using the pseudonym Arman Rahimian to protect his family in Tehran, calls on Australians to recognise the broader significance of the brewing conflict between Israel and Iran—and the internal struggle within Iran itself. This article, originally published in Quadrant, argues that the fight against Iran’s regime is not remote or irrelevant but intimately connected to universal values of human dignity and freedom that resonate globally.
For over four decades, Iran’s regime has brutalised its people in pursuit of a radical theocratic vision, one that preaches apocalypse and demands submission, treating human life as expendable. Iranians risk imprisonment, torture, and death simply to desire normal freedoms—walking uncovered without fear, loving whom they choose, and living without ideological oppression. Rahimian portrays the Iranian populace as kindred spirits to Australians, sharing dreams that predate the current regime: a yearning for peace, stability, and personal liberty. He urges Australians, particularly conservatives who uphold the sanctity of individual life and progressives who champion the oppressed, to lend their voices in solidarity, for the Iranian people’s freedom is deeply intertwined with the preservation of freedom worldwide.
The recent military escalation between Israel and Iran—precipitated by Israeli strikes on nuclear facilities with U.S. logistical backing—has brought this decades-long tension to the brink of war. The conflict, lasting twelve days, resulted in significant casualties on both sides, including Iranian military commanders and infrastructure losses, and numerous deaths in Israel due to missile attacks. Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed the campaign a success, multiple intelligence assessments suggest the disruption to Iran’s nuclear efforts was only temporary. Facilities were damaged, but core elements of Iran’s nuclear programme remain intact or undisclosed. The fragile ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump has paused hostilities but does not guarantee lasting peace.
Despite Trump’s public portrayal of the strikes as a decisive blow, U.S. Defense Intelligence reports and independent analyses indicate Iran’s nuclear capabilities were set back by mere months. Moreover, Iran has since suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, raising fears of renewed clandestine nuclear development and further eroding the international arms control framework. Experts warn that the attacks might inadvertently push Tehran closer to weaponisation as deterrence, undermining decades of nuclear non-proliferation efforts and complicating future diplomatic negotiations.
Internally, Iran remains politically fractured. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s grip appears weakened amid factionalism between hardliners advocating militant resistance and pragmatists seeking some form of engagement with the West. In this precarious domestic landscape, the regime may escalate repression to maintain control, deepening the suffering that fueled widespread protests against tyranny. The Iranian people’s courageous resistance—demonstrated in ongoing strikes against compulsory military service, women defying compulsory veiling, and persistent public dissent—speaks to an unyielding desire for reform and dignity in life, not the apocalyptic death cult championed by the establishment.
At international forums such as the NATO Summit in The Hague, global leaders have grappled with the implications of this conflict amid other pressing security challenges like the war in Ukraine and defence spending commitments. NATO reaffirmed its collective defense promises and commended U.S. efforts to foster Israel-Iran calm, yet the ceasefire is widely considered tenuous. The risk of renewed violence remains high, with both Israel and Iran poised for future confrontation, and the broader Middle East’s stability hanging in the balance.
The conflict’s multidimensional nature—combining deadly regional rivalries with internal struggles for freedom—makes it imperative for the global community to maintain focused diplomatic engagement. The ceasefire opens a potential doorway for negotiations, yet significant diplomatic challenges persist given mutual distrust and Iran’s internal divisions. Observers note a marked shift in U.S. policy from maximum pressure towards possible dialogue, but details remain unclear amid limited official transparency.
In this fraught context, the fight is not solely about geopolitics or strategic interests; it embodies a fundamental defence of human values. The Iranian people’s suffering and aspiration for liberation echo freedoms long cherished elsewhere. Israel’s military actions, supported by the U.S., seek to pre-empt a nuclear threat imbued with apocalyptic zealotry that could destabilise an already volatile region and threaten global security. The stakes are high: a nuclear Iran would not only imperil Israel or regional neighbours but could accelerate a global descent into chaos driven by extremist ideology.
For Australians and others far from the conflict zones, this struggle is neither distant nor abstract. It represents a universal contest between tyranny and freedom, despair and hope. Choosing to remain silent or indifferent risks abandoning those who seek to cast off totalitarian chains. As the ceasefire holds delicately, the world watches a pivotal moment when a people long oppressed may yet reclaim their right to a life of dignity, thereby reinforcing the very foundation of freedom that sustains societies everywhere. The challenge remains for the international community not just to witness but to actively support the possibility of a free and peaceful Iran emerging from decades of darkness.
Source: Noah Wire Services
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