Ardeshir Zarezadeh: Canada must support this rare opportunity for regime change in Iran |
As a young man, I was jailed for leading protests in Iran. But the fear that quelled those earlier movements is eroding
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When I joined Iran’s pro-democracy movement as a student in 1998, I was young, optimistic, and convinced the fall of the regime was not only inevitable, but close. In 1999, alongside other student activists, we built an independent student movement and organized what became the largest student uprising since the 1979 revolution. We believed history was moving in our direction.
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At the time, a reformist government was in power. Many believed change would come through gradual reform, elections, and institutions. What became clear, however, was that reform existed mainly to protect the regime, not to challenge it. The system absorbed pressure, identified organizers, and learned how to suppress dissent while keeping international costs low.
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