The main focus of today's discussion is the urgent human rights crisis in Iran, highlighted through the powerful stories of our guest, Zolal Habibi, an Iranian human rights activist whose life is deeply linked to the fight for freedom, dignity, and justice. For over twenty years, Zolal has been a strong voice advocating for the silenced, especially on women's rights and democratic reform during times of significant societal upheaval. As we explore the challenging situation in modern Iran, marked by unprecedented protests, a militarized crackdown, and severe human rights abuses, we will examine Zolal’s insights on the effects of recent regime changes and the persistent resilience of the Iranian people. The complex geopolitical issues, along with the worsening economic conditions caused by ongoing conflict, offer a multi-layered perspective on this urgent humanitarian crisis. Our discussion aims not only to shed light on the struggles of those oppressed in Iran but also to consider the wider implications for global peace and stability, stressing the importance of supporting the Iranian people's pursuit of self-determination and justice.

In a powerful exploration of Iran's fight for justice and human rights, Zola Habib shares her compelling insights with Rev. Dr. Keith Haney. The podcast goes beyond simple discussion, immersing listeners in the harsh realities faced by the Iranian people during an unprecedented national uprising. Zola describes the seismic changes happening in Iran, especially after the death of the Supreme Leader and the subsequent increase in state violence. This conversation serves as a call to recognize the human toll of political repression, as Zola recounts firsthand stories of brutality against protesters and the systematic targeting of dissenters. Additionally, the discussion examines the strategic impact of international responses to these crises and advocates for strong support for those daring to challenge the regime. The podcast ultimately aims to equip its audience with knowledge and empathy, urging a collective commitment to the Iranian resistance and a deeper critique of the geopolitical factors that worsen human suffering in the region.

Takeaways:

• The current state of Iran is characterized by unprecedented protests and governmental repression, resulting in a humanitarian crisis.
• Zolal Habibi's advocacy for human rights in Iran stems from personal tragedy, as her father was a victim of political violence.
• The Iranian regime's attempt to maintain control through lethal force has led to widespread casualties and arrests, creating a volatile environment.
• The transitional leadership in Iran, marked by the ascendance of Khamenei's son, indicates a continuity of the regime's oppressive policies rather than a departure from them.
• The international community's response to the Iranian plight must prioritize supporting the resistance movement rather than engaging in appeasement tactics.
• The resilience of the Iranian people amidst severe repression highlights their unwavering commitment to democracy and justice, necessitating global solidarity.

Links referenced in this episode:

1. iranfreedom.org
2. action@iranfreedom.org
3. https://maryamrajavi4change.com/
4. https://www.linkedin.com/in/zolalhabibi/
5. https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/
6. https://www.becomingbridgebuilders.org/podcast

Mentioned in this episode:

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Welcome to Becoming Bridge Builders, the podcast dedicated to courageous conversations, deep understanding, and the work of building bridges in a world too often divided. I am your host, Reverend Dr. Keith Haney.

And today we step into one of the most urgent human rights struggles of our time, the fight for freedom, dignity and justice in Iran. Our guest is someone who lived that struggle every day of her life.

Zola Habib is an Iranian human rights activist, a leading voice on women's rights and democratic reform, and a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the NCRI. For more than 20 years, she has spoken for the silence. From international forums to human rights conferences to major global media outlets.

Zola joins us as Iran faces one of the most consequential periods in its modern history.

In the past three months alone, the country has endured unprecedented protests, mass casualties, a deepening militarized crackdown, spiraling executions, escalating tensions with global powers.

Fatalities have dramatically have varied dramatically, with internal government sources citing several thousand, while others monitoring organizations report death tolls in the tens of thousands during peak repression.

Recent findings show that at least 30,000 people were killed in the first 48 hours of January crackdown alone, according to Iran's Ministry of Health.

The wider conflict, including recent IDF strikes from the IRGC facilities in Tehran, further complicate Iran's international stability and global posture. Amid this turmoil, human rights groups report catastrophic violations.

Hundreds of women killed in protests, widespread executions, an intensifying state of effort to crush dissidents through surveillance, arbitrary detention and lethal regression into this moment. We welcome our guest Zola. Welcome to the podcast.

Thank you very much for having me, Reverend Keith, and it's a pleasure to be with you and I'd like to take the time to greet everyone who's tuning into the podcast today. Thank you for this time.

Well, thank you.

You've been on before and I wanted to bring you up because we had talked about kind of, I think when we came on the first time, things were kind of up in the air and we saw the resistance, but now we've actually seen some more conflict. And even the Supreme Leader is now no longer with us in this world.

So I'm curious, could you kind of walk us through what this transition is looking like in Iran right now?

Well, right now as we are Speaking, it's day 11 of the war. The reality is that if we look back from January till now, the situation has been evolving.

The people of Iran, since December 28, they came to took to the streets. It started with the strike from the bazaar, but it grew to the entirety of the society.

And throughout all 31 provinces, the uprisings which were met with lethal force. And unfortunately, thousands upon thousands were killed by the regime.

And over 50,000 people were arrested that many of them and detained, which many of them right now, their lives are still in jeopardy and we don't know much about their whereabouts. And right now they are facing very critical circumstances, especially like prisoners during this war. So that is how things were developing.

With a 19 day Internet blackout and communication blackout, the Iranian regime was able to, you know, suppress protesters.

With the mass killings, which, you know, I think the world started seeing the images of the body bags and everything across Iran and different cities.

But what was interesting is that despite that brutal crackdown, the people of Iran, they used every opportunity to try to give this message that this isn't the end of it. We're going to continue and we're going to continue to fight against this regime.

Because one of the things I think that more than ever the Iranian community, I mean, the Iranian population realized is that we can't allow this to continue this cycle that people come to the streets with whatever the spokesman is and create an uprising and then it's met with deadly force. And then the regime is able to suppress and be able to take control again.

So one of the things that we've been seeing is that actually just a few weeks ago marked the 40 day mark of the uprisings.

And in Persian culture, or in our culture, we have this thing that people usually hold ceremonies for those they have lost or those who have passed away on the 40th day of their passing. And those memorial services turned to scenes of defiance and resistance.

We saw, you know, more grieving parents celebrating the lives of their children. We saw people making, you know, a pledge to those who had been killed and using that ceremony to be able to show their opposition to the regime.

And that really spread a lot of fear for the regime. And so they actually started cracking down on those protests too, or Those ceremonies.

Well, actually, what was interesting is things that started happening after that. I mean, there was complete martial law in place since January in Iran, practically in all major cities.

But one of the things that we saw was like, for instance, the regime had had all universities be held. Their classes were being held online. So all campuses were shut down. After 40, 50 days, they allowed the students to return to the universities.

And that first day, people, students actually held memorial services for their classmates who had been killed. And from the next day, protests began. And this was actually on February 22nd.

So one week before the start of the war, we saw those protests breaking out in different campuses across Iran and targeting the entirety of the regime and the overthrow of the regime.

We also saw about five days before the war that actually resistance units, about 250 members of resistance units in Tehran, they carried out an organized operation against the headquarters of Khamenei, the same headquarters which were targeted on Saturday, the first day of the war, Saturday, February 20th. And that was something that was unprecedented in the last two decades. So 250 members of resistance units carried out this operation.

And it had a major ripple effect.

But also, I think just the message that it had for the regime and for society was a major shift because it showed the regime that, first of all, this was the most secure location in all of Iran. And at a time that they were on heightened security. But still this operation was able to be carried out.

Yes, unfortunately, about 100 of those who participated in this operation, they were either killed or arrested.

But still, the fact that they were able to do that, it actually showed the people of Iran that the regime is in a much weaker state than it presents itself.

And so that had that message and also that the resistance lives on and people are organizing and regrouping to enter this new phase or this new chapter in their fight against the regime.

So that was like the message that we're getting right before the start of the war, during this war, the first day while Khamenei was eliminated, of course the people of Iran were happy to have such a brutal dictator eliminated. But the reality is that the people of Iran always saw it.

They always wanted to be able to, you know, have this done by the people of Iran themselves and to be able to hold him accountable for the crimes that he had perpetrated or, you know, this, this was something that, you know, they wanted to do themselves.

But the reality is that unfortunately, with what has followed, I mean, we have always stated as the Iranian resistance, that the solution to the issue of Iran is Neither war nor appeasement. It is supporting the Iranian people and the resistance to bring about change.

Because war, you can't just look at it from that one angle and perspective of saying, well, Khamenei was eliminated after 37 years. But we're also seeing the catastrophe of war. We're also seeing the innocent civilians who are being killed.

We are also seeing the infrastructures that are being completely demolished. And we're also seeing the spread of this war because the Iranian regime is the number one state sponsor of terrorism.

And this is something that's really important to take into consideration.

That's why I think it was on day two or three of the war that they started retaliating and targeting other countries in the region, but going as far as Cyprus and now Turkey, and also making threats of targeting Albania, which is actually a member of NATO. So that would just really change the dimensions of the war.

And the reality is that the Iranian regime is trying to play the victim card here right now. And the more this war drags out, the more that it will be capitalizing on that and to try to garner support, the support that he.

The popular support that it doesn't have within Iran, but be able to get that from abroad. And also, the Iranian regime has always strived on destabilizing the region.

So these are things that are important to understand in regards to the situation.

I mean, one of the reasons that the Iranian resistance has always stated that the solution to the crisis in Iran is not war and also not appeasement, because appeasement finally leads to a war. And that is what we're seeing.

And also, unfortunately, the main bargaining chip in the appeasement policy in the negotiations with this regime throughout the last four decades have been the Iranian resistance and the Iranian people. So that doesn't benefit anyone. And the reality is that this regime is non, non reformable.

Because first of all, the scenario Iran is very different from many other countries.

I think it's very important to understand it even, like, I'm not even talking based on just ethics and principle that war is not the solution, but even logically from a military perspective, even if you look at it, you can have Khamenei removed like he has been now, but this system is very different from like, for instance, the scenario in Venezuela. It's not like when you remove that one person, this whole system falls through. It has a complete apparatus and it's intact.

And that doesn't mean the end of the regime the same way that the death of Khomeini didn't mean the end of the regime.

Right now, we everyone, I think you've probably heard, but two days ago, Khomeini, Khomeini, the son of Khomeini, was chosen by the assembly of Experts as the new Vela Esafati as the new supreme leader. He has been part and parcel of this regime from, you know, from. From the onset.

For the last three decades, he was alongside his father and has been among the principal architects of repression, the export of fundamentalism and terrorism, and the plundering of the Iranian people as well. He was actually, in practice, he has long functioned as his father's de facto successor.

And so we see the continuation of the regime, on the other hand, like, for instance, in a scenario like Iraq, well, Iran is three times the size of Iraq with four times the population. The terrain in Iran is very different. So it's not very. Not easy to be able to have troops on the ground or something like that. And it would drag out.

I mean, I think the overthrow of Saddam Hussein took about like, three weeks. This won't even last. I mean, this is going to take much longer, longer. And it's to no one's benefit.

Even right now, everyone is saying that the Iranian regime has, because they were being targeted in Tehran, they have actually moved, pulled out of all their major headquarters, and they're just spread throughout the country and actually taking, I don't want to say refuge, but actually basing their activities in civilian locations and whatnot. So this is not a very viable option or possibility. So that's why the more this war dries out, unfortunately, the more the casualties will be.

And considering the nature of the Iranian regime, this is not going to stay within the Iranian borders of Iran.

And I think that's really something that's important to understand, but also it is allowing the regime to completely suppress all forms of dissent inside of the country.

The Iranian regime has set up, like, complete martial law in Iran right now, and they have set, up, like, different checkpoints throughout every city and every province. And so they have complete control over the situation.

And with that, they're able to suppress anyone who tries to even come to the streets or tries to do anything. So all of that resistance that we were seeing on the ground, automatically it has been forced to go underground again.

Because the reality is, on one hand, there are bombs overhead. They say last night was the heaviest bombings on Tehran since the beginning of the war.

And so, I mean, people have to take refuge and they have to, you know, try to safeguard their lives. On the other hand, there's the suppression of the regime.

So that doesn't even allow the people of Iran to take their destiny into their own hands and to be able to move forward. So that is where we. Where we are today.

I think that the way forward at this point is to try to see the war ending as soon as possible and allowing the people of Iran to actually take their destiny into their own hands.

Because the reality is that they are the only legitimate group, I guess you could say, that can decide the future of Iran and to determine their country's political future. And this is something that has been declared by Mrs. Rajavi, the President elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

And she made this statement on the first day of the war. She declared to the international community that only the people of Iran have the legitimacy to determine their country's political future.

And she emphasized that we have constantly said that the Iranian people write their destiny with the sacrifices that they're willing to make, and they have made continuously, and there is no need for foreign intervention. And we have consistently said that we do not seek money or the presence of foreign forces on Iranian soil.

And now is, you know, on the Iranian front, it is the time for solidarity and unity against, you know, the remnants of religious dictatorship and also the, you know, monarchical fascism that seeks to steal the democratic revolution of the Iranian people after 47 years of sacrifice. So we are at a very important and critical juncture right now. And I think that it's very important to understand, like, there's a very.

We're walking on a very thin line here, the balance of opposing the war but also opposing the regime.

And I think that that's a very sensitive balance to strike, because the Iranian regime is trying to play the victim game and try to garner support this way. But the fact is that being opposed to the war doesn't necessarily mean supporting the regime or wanting it to stay in power.

We think that this regime has to be overthrown.

The world will not see stability and peace or be able to eliminate the threats made by the regime until this regime stands, because that's the nature of this regime.

So let me ask you a question. Yeah.

I'm wondering, because here in America, we see people, activists on our side, who are distraught that The Ayatollah is dead and calling for their former regime to be back in power again or someone like that. How do you answer those who don't really understand what you just described that was happening in Iran or is currently happening in Iran?

I think that for those activists who, you know, they're opposed to the war, but then they're mourning Khamenei, first of all.

I think they just lack the understanding of who Khamenei was and what his resume is and how the devastation that Khamenei has created, the Khomeini Khamenei was responsible, or the deaths of thousands and thousands of people both inside of Iran and abroad. I mean, you know, all of the meddling in the region in the last 37 years has been, you know, under his rule and his eye.

And the reality is that he, you know, a very brutal dictator was eliminated. So it's something to be happy about. It's not something to be mourning. And the people of Iran are not mourning the loss of Khamenei. That is a fact.

And no matter where you stand politically, there's maybe, according to the regime itself, it had support of about 5% of Iran's society, the regime.

And the reality is, from them, even not all of them are mourning Khamenei because some of them, they're just, you know, they have interest in this regime staying in power, like financial interests or whatnot. It's not like they actually support the regime. So, I mean, it's a very, very small fracture of Iran's society that stands by this regime.

And over the years, the more brutal this regime has gotten, the more it has even lost some of its core supporters, ideological supporters, who have started to realize that, you know, this regime is not all it tries to present itself as. And they're. They're true hypocrites to, you know, the things that they try to present. I have seen there are some that consider, like, the regime to.

To have been like, a supporter of Palestine or whatnot.

And that's not even true because the Iranian regime has actually been one of the most, I guess, has really acted against the people of Palestine and has added to the fuel of warmongering and this crisis in the Middle east for decades. Because Khamenei actually had. About 10 years ago, he made a speech. It was during the.

The height of the, you know, Arab Spring, and with everything that was happening in Syria and said, if we don't fight today on the streets of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, whatnot, we have to fight on the streets of Tehran, Shiraz and Esfahad. And that is exactly what happened.

So the regime always relied on export of what we call terrorism, but what they call export of revolution, which was export of terrorism, fundamentalism and warmongering. So that is the reality of the regime.

For those that you see on, you know, in the streets or anywhere else who are celebrating this war or supporting it, that is also a very small marginal faction.

And they're monarchist, Iranian monarchist, who see no other way of coming to power other than foreign intervention because they don't have any organized structure. They don't have. They're not willing to pay a price for the freedom of Iran.

They want to be installed the same way that the Shah and his father were installed by foreign powers. Because Reza Khan, who was the first in the Pahlavi dynasty, he. He was brought in through a military coup by the British.

And then Mohamed Shah was actually, you know, reinstated by the US after the coup d' etat against Dr. Mossadegh.

Before that, when Reza Khan wasn't serving the purposes that the British had, he was actually sent into exile and they had brought in his son, Mohammed Pahlavi.

But after, you know, Dr. Mossada became prime minister and was trying to enforce that the Shah, I mean, that we have actually constitutional monarchy and not complete dictatorship.

Because I don't think you will find anyone anywhere in the world that would support their people being bombed.

Right, exactly.

But that is what we're seeing from them.

So I'm curious, you talked about the fact that Iran right now or the regime is attacking all of its neighbors in the region to create, destabilize things. I also saw that and maybe you can kind of shed some light on this as well. What's the relationship between Iran and the Kurds?

I heard the Kurds were upset and they were thinking of putting being boots on the ground, so to speak, in this conflict. Can you kind of walk us through what that tension is between Iran and the Kurds?

Yes, that's Iranian Kurds. So the Kurds of Iran.

The reality is that unfortunately they're not only the Kurds, but practically all different ethnicities in Iran have been systematically suppressed, both under the current regime and the previous regime. So they have been continuing to fight for, you know, precursors in this specific case.

And so but they do have piecemegas and they, they are organized, so they are an organized force. The US and Israel, I think, were in talks with them to try to be able to use them as, you know, for troops on the ground or whatnot.

That is, I mean, there is a lot of talks around it. I mean, a lot of them right now these days, it's very difficult to fact check some things. And so.

Right. Exactly.

Are rumors and we just have to see like what actually how things play out. But the reality is that, I mean, they have systematically been suppressed, the Iranian Kurds, by this regime.

And this is from back in, actually a few months after the revolution had started or about a year after the revolution, you know, the massacre of people in Kurdistan. And it has been continuous.

And so yes, they, but what is important is also to realize that because some try to present them, like in the disinformation war and propaganda war as seeking separationist or whatnot. And that's not true. They're not separatist. And they do, they want, you know, a free Iran. They want to see that.

But they also want to see, you know, a Iran where their rights will be respected and that there's like they have autonomy. And I think that is something that the NCRI actually stands for.

And in fact, it's one of the 10 points in the 10 point plan set forth by Mrs. Rajavi, which is the basis of the interim government, the provisional interim government after the fall of the regime. It calls for recognizing the sovereignty of Kurdistan or the rights of the ethnicities in Iran.

When we talked about, when we met, I think back in January, one of the things we talked about that started this most recent uprising and maybe the weakening of the regime was the economy. I'm sure the war is not helping the economy. How is, how was the economy now with all this going on around?

I know people were, the prices were sky high, the dollar, your dollar was unstable. Where are things that now, economically it

is a devastation right now? I mean, there's no other word to describe it.

I mean, the situation right now, from every perspective that you look at it really people in Iran have gone into war mode. I mean, the Effects that a war on your soil has on the economy is devastating.

And just imagine that that was already a economy that was, you know, had fallen apart completely and was going through a catastrophe. So the reality is that right now, I mean, the situation of people on the ground is unbearable.

I mean, people weren't even able to really, because, you know, in a situation of war, they always say, try to, you know, have some kind of a food supply, whatever, to be able to, you know, survive and be able to provide for yourselves, for your families or whatnot. People don't have money to be able to buy more food than one day practically in Iran, due to the. I mean, due to the circumstances.

I mean, over 60% of Iran's population is living under the line of poverty right now. There's like, their hands are really tied.

And it's really a very, very difficult situation for the people on the ground, especially with, you know, the extreme amount of bombings and everything that is happening. I mean, everyone is being. I mean, they say Iran is a nightmare right now. And, you know, they say last night the reports were, you know, you could.

Iran looks like hell right now with all the, know, fire and bombs.

And I don't know if you heard, but, you know, because the oil refineries were targeted, there is like a rain of oil on the people right now, and especially in Tehran and other regions, which is. The World Health Organization has raised alarms on this because this will turn to acid rain. And it has major implications for the people of Iran.

And so, I mean, from every aspect that you look at it, it's unbearable, the situation. And yeah, that is unfortunate, the reality that the people of Iran are suffering extremely under the current circumstances.

We talked about the resistance movement. How is that going in the midst of all the transition? Because I even heard that they haven't seen the new Supreme Leader. There's.

There's reports or there's thoughts, and maybe he's not. Either he's seriously injured or he may not be alive either. Any thoughts on the transition to government, how that's supposedly going?

Well, it's not really a transition. It's just like being replaced by his son. But the reality is that the regime has indicated that he had. He was wounded.

Because you have to understand, like, for instance, right now, to the extent of my knowledge, both his parents were killed. His wife has been killed, his

brother. Oh, brother in law. Not brother. Okay.

Brother in law has been killed. And one of the grandchildren of Khamenei has been killed. I'm not really sure whose child that Was, but so that's like what's coming out.

But they say that he has been wounded. The reality is right now the regime is trying to, the regime has been prepared for this kind of war.

And so they had in place certain, you know, directories or whatnot on what to do and how to act.

And that's why you see, like for instance, they had given a, I guess a white pass to the IRGC to you could hit whoever you need to or strike wherever you need to. And that's why we saw you know, the extensive attacks on other countries in the region.

So that is the situation or circumstances we're seeing on the ground within the regime.

But I think one of the most important aspects, things that have happened in the past few days is first of all, on, on February 28th, hours after the start of the war, Mrs. Rajavi, she gave a statement.

First of all, the National Council of Resistance of Iran actually announced the provisional government for the transfer of sovereignty to the people of Iran based on the 10 point plan of Mrs. Rajavi.

And after that, Mr. Bajabi actually gave a statement in this regard, which the statement is, I think it to this day, I think it's like very comprehensive because it covers both as a message and call to action to the people of Iran. It has a message and call to action to the international community.

And it also explains where we stand and what is going on and what needs to be done. So it's a very comprehensive message, even though it's pretty short.

And the reality is that I think that that is the most precise thing that we're going to see because actually the way things have played out, to be honest, one of the things that I find very interesting is that everything that the Iranian resistance has said for decades has been now proven to be correct. And so they have the best analysis of the situation and what needs to be done and how we need to move forward.

And because these are people who have, you know, for decades this has been their main concentration.

You know, the overthrow of the regime, understanding the regime, how it works and how to be able to weaken it and how to be able to target it and how to be able to overthrow it. So I think that is the most precise analysis that we can find out there right now, because there's a lot of.

I mean, there's a lot being said, but they're not exactly correct. If you would like, I could read. It's very short. I could read it to you and I think it'll put a lot of things into perspective for the listeners.

Sure, go ahead.

The message reads, this is, as I said, about two, three hours after the start of the war. So it says, dear compatriots, our homeland continues to endure greater pain and destruction under the rule of religious fascism.

In these difficult circumstances, I call on all of you, especially the courageous youth of our country, to care for civilians and the general public, particularly children and the elderly, protect them and help one another. Now is the time for solidarity.

Our strength lies in the unity and cohesion of our people against the religious dictatorship and the remnants of monarchical fascism that seek to steal the democratic revolution.

At this critical moment, I call upon our compatriots and all forces of Iran's democratic revolution to remain vigilant and prepared and the war that has erupted today over the clerical regime's nuclear and missile programs, programs that the Iranian resistance exposed three decades ago. All parties involved must exercise the utmost care to prevent any harm to the Iranian people and to the country's civilian infrastructure.

I call on the public at large, especially supporters of the resistance, the youth and resistance units, the members of the Liberation army and the all awakened women and youth to rush to the aid of those affected.

I reiterate that the the ultimate solution is the overthrow of this regime and the determination of Iran's destiny by the Iranian people and the organized resistance by the brave sons and daughters of the nation in the resistance units and the ranks of the Liberation Army. Our path leads towards the future and the establishment of a democratic republic, not a return to the buried dictatorship of the past.

I called on patriotic personnel and the armed forces to stand with the Iranian people. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other forces tasked with preserving the regime must lay down their arms and surrender to the people.

I declare to the international community that only the people of Iran possess the legitimacy to determine the political future of their country. Iran is not its regime. Iran is its people. No Future for Iran can be realized from the outside. It can only be built by the Iranian people themselves.

I call on all to support the people of Iran.

As the Iranian people demonstrated during the January uprising, they seek a future based on a democratic republic and reject both the Shah and the mullahs. Our homeland has passed through many turbulent periods. It will pass through this moment as well.

But within the People's Front we must choose unity, solidarity and hope, and prepare to pay whatever pause it requires. Long live the people of Iran. Victory to Iran's democratic revolution. So that was the message from the first day of the war.

And actually yesterday she gave a statement after the death of. No, actually after Moshe Bahene was was chosen as the new supreme leader.

And in that message she says tonight, the absolute clerical rule has effectively turned itself into a hereditary monarchy by placing Mujab Al Khomeini on the throne. But it cannot save the shipwrecked vessel of religious fascism.

For more than three decades, Moshava Khamenei, alongside his father, has been among the principal architects of repression, the expert of fundamentalism and terrorism and the plundering of the Iranian people's wealth. In practice, he has long functioned as his father's de facto successor.

He bears responsibility for the massacres and suppression of popular uprisings, for controlling the country's resources and economy, and for the systematic looting of national wealth, imposing the harshest oppression and exploitation of the majority of Iranians, especially women and the working and underprivileged classes, including nurses, teachers, workers, farmers and retirees.

Yet the outraged Iranian people who have risen up in successive uprisings to overthrow this regime will not retreat in the face of the clerical mafia ruling Iran. The destiny of Iran will be written by its people. The resistance, the organized uprising and the liberation army will have the decisive role.

The Iranian people have rejected every form of dictatorship and demand a democratic republic based on free and universal elections.

The six month provisional government is not intended to seize power, but to transfer sovereignty to the people of Iran in pursuit of this very, Very objective.

No problem. So as, as we wrap this up, I know you have a hard out soon. What do you see as next for us as for Iran as a country?

Well, I think that what comes next is first of all, I think that we have to wait and see how this war ends. But I think what is most important is for this war to come to an end and to allow the people of Iran to take their destiny into their own hands.

We will see, I think, the growth of, you know, the fight of the people of Iran with this regime, with the IRGC and with the suppressive forces in different forms. Parts will be, you know, uprising and protests.

Part will be probably armed struggle because that is, the regime is going to become more brutal to be able to keep its power, its grip on power. So people have to be able to fight back.

They need to be able to disarm the suppressive forces and to be able to protect one another and protect the country. So I think that is the direction that we are probably going towards.

I think at this critical juncture, it's really important for the international community to first of all realize that the mistakes that have been made so far in policy and recognize the fact that appeasement and war are not the solution.

So now, finally, after 47 years, try to recognize the fight of the Iranian people and their organized resistance against this regime and to recognize the opposition of the Iranian people.

And I think that right now we have seen just in the past, last week, actually within the first 48 hours, I think we had about like 470 lawmakers and prominent personalities who voiced their support for the provisional government announced by the ncri. I think that that needs to grow and I think that governments need to recognize that Iranians have that capability and capacity to bring about change.

All they're asking for is for an end to the policy of a peace. And I think that is to the benefit of the world at large.

And so I hope that we start moving into that direction more and more and allowing the people of Iran to take their destiny into their own hands.

Wizola, thank you so much for your courage and for bringing clarity to a movement that will shape millions of lives. The path ahead for Iran is uncertain, but the dignity and determination of his people remain unshakable to our listeners.

We ask you to stay informed with credible sources and follow what's going on in Iran. We want to build bridges by standing with the oppressed, telling the truth with care and courage, and help create spaces for accountability and Hope.

I am Reverend Dr. Keith Haney. Thank you for listening to becoming bridge builders. Until next time. Be kind, be brave and keep building. Thank you.

Zola, thank you very much.