The Outlook Is Grim for a Freer Iran -- NYT Guest Essay

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/28/opinion/iran-us-war-attack-protests.html
By Amir Ahmadi Arian
Mr. Arian is an Iranian American writer and journalist.

non paywall https://archive.ph/QZOuT
(contains a new title to the same content)

"... As ordinary citizens, the decision to start or end a war of this magnitude lies beyond our control, and recent history from Iraq to Gaza suggests that in such moments street protests and online posturing do next to nothing to influence decision makers in Washington and elsewhere.
In the face of such despair, Iranians and the world must make the well-being and safety of the Iranian people a priority over ideology, and take collective, concrete steps toward that goal.

Perhaps most urgent is finding a way to keep Iranians connected to the internet. During the recent uprisings, a blackout proved deadly. Stemming the flow of information made it next to impossible for people to organize and coordinate across neighborhoods... Many exiled Iranians are highly skilled doctors, engineers and other professionals who, in the absence of functioning government agencies, could play a crucial role in stabilizing the country and alleviating suffering. Their return would also make it more difficult for the regime’s surviving security apparatus to reconsolidate its grip on power and carry out arrests and executions. It will also be a great opportunity for the Iranian diaspora, itself divided by algorithm-driven rage and infighting, to find real purpose and make meaningful contributions to our country.

No matter what outcome this war yields, nations must support a global campaign to swiftly lift economic sanctions, which severed Iran from the global economy. The stated intention was to target the regime. But the sanctions net cast over the country always had a gaping hole, controlled by the Revolutionary Guards Corps. Through it, a shadow fleet exports oil and other goods to China and elsewhere... proceeds to keep its mercenaries paid and fed while forming an oligarchy that pockets significant portions of the revenue and invests it abroad.

The sanctions have not so much weakened the regime as entrenched it further, and... Lifting them would at least help alleviate the destructive effects of this new war on ordinary Iranians, who will inevitably bear the brunt of it... Whatever the outcome of the strikes, sitting back and passively watching the state actors react should not be an option. We need a new form of internationalism: grass-roots activism focused on transnational coordination. Ordinary people must have more of a say in global affairs.
Iran is as good a place as any to start."

Compassionate Americans, imo, must come to listen to the voices of suffering Iranians, who are part of our shared humanity.