Op-ed by Freydoun Bahar
For nearly half a century, you have ruled not with wisdom, justice, or service, but with deception, coercion, and institutionalized corruption. For 45 years, the Iranian people have endured a regime that has forsaken dignity for dogma, and governance for greed.
You have dismantled Iran’s economy, crippled its industries, and turned a nation rich in resources and culture into a cautionary tale of mismanagement. Under your rule, the fabric of society has frayed. You have weaponized religion to control, not to guide; to punish, not to uplift. In the name of hijab, you have inflicted violence on women and girls, using faith as a tool to suppress rather than inspire.
You have spilled the blood of our youth in the streets, silenced dissent with bullets, and filled prisons with the voices of hope. You have cultivated addiction, despair, and economic ruin, stripping generation after generation of opportunity, security, and dignity.
Today, the Iranian passport no longer evokes pride; it triggers suspicion. International sanctions and diplomatic isolation are the legacy of your nuclear provocations. Efforts that, in the end, yielded nothing but economic devastation and global ridicule. Your vaunted deterrents were dismantled with ease, exposing the myth of your military strength.
While shouting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” you have failed to protect the homeland. You delivered slogans, not security. You delivered ideology, not infrastructure. Under your watch, our rivers have dried, our air has grown toxic, and our lands are poisoned, both by negligence and by design.
Your loyalty has shifted from Tehran to Moscow. Your alliance with Vladimir Putin has not only failed to protect Iran but also exposed our sovereignty to foreign manipulation. During a devastating 12-day war, he stood idle. While Iran bled, your ally dined and negotiated behind closed doors with Netanyahu.
You have betrayed us at every turn. Your regime protects embezzlers, shields political insiders, and sustains the Guardian Council, an unelected body that has transformed elections into theater and parliament into a marketplace of bribery. The most corrupt now occupy the seats of power, while Iran’s brightest minds are exiled, marginalized, or silenced.
You have not built a nation. You have maintained a power structure. That structure, rooted in fear, secrecy, and exclusion, cannot reform itself. It is incapable of change because change would mean its own demise.
We call for a peaceful and immediate transition of power. Not through chaos or bloodshed, but through the will of a people long denied their rightful voice. The Islamic Republic has proven beyond doubt that it cannot deliver a future. The time has come for you to step aside and let Iran rebuild on the foundations of liberty, justice, and human dignity.
Steps Toward a Peaceful Transition:
- Supreme Leader’s Office (Beit-e Rahbari) Must Be Dissolved
Ali Khamenei must resign. His inner circle, long infiltrated by foreign agents, enablers of corruption, and purveyors of repression, must be disbanded. No member should be reassigned. In its place, a transitional body of respected Iranian scholars, jurists, economists, and civil society leaders should take temporary charge to guide the country toward open governance.
- Abolish the Guardian Council (Shoraye Negahban)
This body has ceased to be a guardian of the people’s will and has become a gatekeeper of corruption. It has obstructed democracy, handpicked legislators, and disqualified reformers. Its outdated reliance on 1,400-year-old jurisprudence is incompatible with the needs of a modern nation.
- Dismantle the Expediency Council (Shoraye Maslahat-e Nezam)
This council is another layer of authoritarian control, filled with loyalists and foreign agents. It serves no legitimate function in a democratic transition.
- Suspend Parliament and Hold New Elections
The current parliament, the most compromised in the history of the Islamic Republic, must be dissolved. Legislative authority should temporarily rest with the transitional body until new, fair elections can be held under independent supervision.
- Reform the Role of the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC)
The IRGC must immediately withdraw from all economic activity. Its domination of major industries has fostered systemic embezzlement and stifled private enterprise. Its role must be confined strictly to national defense, under democratic oversight.
- Disband the Basij Militia
This paramilitary force has been a primary instrument of domestic repression. It must be fully disbanded, and its leadership held accountable for documented abuses against Iranian citizens, particularly students, women, and protestors.
- Recalibrate Foreign Policy
Iran must immediately scale down its strategic dependence on Russia and China. These alliances have isolated Iran further from the global community and failed to support the nation in times of crisis. Iran’s future lies in balanced diplomacy, constructive engagement, and reintegration into the international system, not in serving the agendas of foreign powers.
The people of Iran are not broken. We are bound by your chains. Remove them, and this nation will rise. We have the intellect, the talent, and the resolve. What we lack is freedom, not capacity. What we need is opportunity, not rulers.
History will remember what happens next. Let it be remembered that when the time came to choose, you chose peace over violence, justice over tyranny, and the people over power.
The path forward begins now.
About the Author:
Freydoun Bahar is the pen name of an Iranian economist, advisor, and respected community leader. He earned his Ph.D. in Resource Economics and spent years at an international financial institution advising governments on privatization and small business development.
Based on the East Coast, he runs a successful financial consulting firm and is widely known in his community as the first person people turn to for guidance, whether on financial matters or during moments of uncertainty.
He also hosts gatherings with scholars and political thinkers to discuss democracy, religion, and global affairs, creating space for open, thoughtful dialogue within the Iranian diaspora. Writing under the name “Freydoun Bahar”, meaning “spring” in Persian, he symbolizes renewal. Like many Iranian dissidents, he uses a pen name to protect his safety and ability to return to Iran while speaking freely on justice and reform.