The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund (IALDF) stands in unwavering solidarity with the people of Iran as they continue their courageous struggle for dignity, freedom, and basic human rights.
Across Iran, ordinary citizens—women, students, workers, business owners, and families—have risen to demand what people everywhere deserve: the right to live without fear, to speak freely, and to determine their own future. These are not radical demands. They are universal.
The response of the Islamic Republic has been brutal and systematic. In just the past few days, hundreds of civilians have been killed in mass shootings and violent crackdowns reported across multiple cities. Peaceful protesters have been met with mass arrests and torture. Children have been killed in the streets for daring to hope for a better tomorrow. Videos circulating from Tehran and other parts of Iran show grieving families searching through bodies in morgues and hospital facilities to identify their loved ones killed in the ongoing crackdowns.
These abuses are not isolated incidents. They are part of a long-standing pattern of repression designed to crush civil society and extinguish dissent. What is unfolding in Iran today is not a security operation—it is a human rights crisis.
As an organization dedicated to defending civil and human rights, IALDF affirms that the people of Iran are not alone. Their struggle resonates deeply with the Iranian American community, many of whom carry the trauma of exile, separation, and loss because of the same system of repression.
We call on the international community to do more than issue statements. Governments must use every available tool—diplomatic, legal, and economic—to hold perpetrators accountable, to protect victims, and to ensure that those fleeing persecution are given refuge rather than turned away.
We also urge U.S. institutions to ensure that Iranian nationals seeking safety, asylum, or due process are treated with humanity and fairness—not suspicion or collective punishment. We are actively defending the rights of Iranian asylum seekers in the United States, fleeing the same oppressive regime.
History shows that authoritarian regimes rely on fear, but movements for freedom rely on people. The bravery of Iranians inside the country—and the voices of the diaspora around the world—are building a future that no prison or execution can erase.
IALDF stands with all those who believe that justice, dignity, and freedom are not privileges, but human rights.
