I am proud. For the first time, I see a non-European people loudly fighting for fundamental European values.
It is us Iranians. We are ourselves immigrants and refugees in the West. We have nothing against diversity; we are part of it and have contributed to it. We did not come to Europe and Norway to destroy. We came because we recognised the value of what exists here. But we observe with concern how the ideology that destroyed Iran is gradually eating its way into European societies; how Islam takes over institution after institution. And we know what that ideology does when it gains power. It is merciless.
A deadly illusion
Only 50 years ago, Iran was one of the most modern and Western-oriented countries in the Middle East. Tehran had a vibrant cultural life, women studied at the universities, wore miniskirts, ran businesses, and participated in society. The country had a growing middle class, a functioning European-inspired legal system, and an ambition to become a forward-looking regional great power. Tehran was “more European than many European cities”.
When the Islamic Revolution came in 1979, many did not understand what they had let in until it was too late. Iran went from being a relatively secular and forward-looking society to a theocratic dictatorship where people’s private lives are controlled, women are flogged for “inappropriate” clothing, and dissidents are hanged from construction cranes. Millions fled. Tens of thousands have been killed.
We Iranians carry this experience within us – and we see where Europe is heading. That is what we are warning against.
Not because we hate Muslims. Not because we are against diversity. Not because we wish to create fear. But because we recognise the pattern.
Our contribution is experience. We have paid a high price for it
We see how freedom of expression is gradually being restricted out of consideration for “religious sensitivity”. We see how parallel societies are emerging, how sharia norms challenge national legislation. We see how the political Left prioritises “dialogue” with extremist milieus rather than defending the rights and culture of its own citizens. We see how criticism of Islam is branded as “racism”, while real problems with integration, antisemitism, and the oppression of women are trivialised or denied.
Europe believes this can be handled with appeasement and kindness. It is a deadly illusion.
The left-wing parties that today govern Europe are not protecting their own countries and culture. They have set themselves the task of accelerating the development. Under the guise of humanity and “diversity”, they open the doors to forces that undermine the foundations of the society they pretend to defend.
We Iranians have already lost our country once. We do not want the same thing to happen to the West.
Those who do not understand it will come to understand it
Those who do not understand it now will come to understand it. History repeats itself if one does not learn from it.
That is why we speak out. Our contribution is experience – and we have paid a high price for it.