Safeguarding Iran: The Paramountcy of National Sovereignty and Life
In a critical period for Iran, public discourse has sharpened around the nation’s path forward, particularly concerning the imperative of national sovereignty and the sanctity of human life. Amidst these discussions, a potent message has emerged, underscoring the dangers of external interference and championing internal resolution.
The Peril of External Intervention
A recent contribution by Abulfazl Fateh emphasizes a profound concern: calls emanating from some individuals abroad for U.S. and Israeli military intervention or attack on Iran. Such propositions, Fateh argues, transcend the boundaries of legitimate political critique or struggle, openly rejecting the independence, territorial integrity, and historical dignity of a nation that has stood for centuries.
These appeals, seeking assistance from foreign powers instead of relying on the Iranian people, cannot be construed as patriotic. Iran is more than just a name; it embodies a unique geography, a rich historical memory, a civilizational legacy, and a shared home for successive generations. Any call for foreign intervention is therefore a direct assault on the Iranian people’s inherent right to self-determination and a painful severing from the nation’s history, identity, and populace.
Lessons from History: The Cost of Interference
History offers stark warnings regarding the consequences of foreign intervention. No nation has achieved freedom, development, or democracy through humiliation, bombardment, sanctions, or foreign occupation. Painful contemporary experiences in the region – from Libya and Sudan to Afghanistan and Syria – serve as clear, bitter, and costly testimonies to this truth. The aftermath in these countries was not the advancement of national dignity, but rather the ashes of sovereignty, social and territorial collapse, and deep wounds from hundreds of thousands of victims and millions displaced, scars that remain unhealed.
Explicitly stated objectives of external powers in the “new political era” suggest that such an approach would lead not to “transition to democracy” or “development,” but to devastation, plunder, internal strife, political guardianship, and even potential fragmentation imposed by intervening powers. Iran, despite its difficulties and challenges, cannot and must not endure such a fate. All who invoke the name of Iran and identify as Iranian must be keenly aware of the independence, dignity, gravitas, and profound significance of this name.
Internal Solutions and National Resilience
The vision of an “Iran for all Iranians” remains a real, honorable, and attainable horizon. However, this vision cannot be realized by surrendering the nation’s destiny to the interests of foreign powers. True freedom and reform, if they are to be honorable, sustainable, and nationally rooted, must emerge from within society and through the informed choice of the majority of the nation’s people. Any alternative path, any involvement of external forces – no matter how grand its slogans – is a destructive deception that will ultimately weaken Iran, exhaust its people, and lead to the loss of national independence and sovereignty.
A society that fosters internal reform, dialogue, and political space, and where avenues for public participation are open, will neither erupt in conflict nor be susceptible to the influence of foreign intervention. Those who condone foreign intervention and aggression implicitly acknowledge their lack of domestic support and bear responsibility for the profoundly dangerous consequences such a path entails for the people and the nation.
A Call for Unity and Protection of Life
The hearts of Iranians are heavy with sorrow for what has transpired and what continues to unfold. Iran mourns its children, and no words can adequately console the grieving families who have lost loved ones. Every lost life places a heavy burden of responsibility on the conscience of society, and every shot fired, every harm inflicted, leaves an indelible mark on the national memory. Every drop of innocent blood, regardless of its source – whether in the name of governance or through treachery, violence, or terror – is a crime, an ember that burns the nation’s soul, depletes Iran’s human and moral capital, and brings joy to adversaries and ill-wishers.
In such moments, no duty is greater than safeguarding human lives and national integrity. Avoiding any path that might transform the nation’s current grief into a greater catastrophe is an undeniable necessity.
The Iranian nation possesses the capacity to find its path to reform and to resolve its internal disputes, sooner or later. However, should the homeland, God forbid, be held hostage by external powers, its liberation would demand an exorbitant price and could prove impossible for decades and generations.
