Chained by Monsters

     Ati  

                                                            Chained by Monsters

Every morning, when I read Iran’s news, and see how things are getting worse daily, I imagine how things were different if the Islamic Revolution had not happened. In 1979, when I was not yet born, a terrible event happened in Iran. Iranians under the leadership of a mullah, Khomeini, rose up against the Shah, the former king of Iran because most people were ignorant and thought that a religious man could lead them to liberty and equality. The Islamic Revolution has brought many disasters for all Iranians. Since this event happened in Iran, many people have died for no reason, the international relations became worse, and poverty and economic problems became widespread. Such calamities affected many Iranians life, and my family’s lives too. 

Khomeini, a pure evil

The Former Royal Family of Iran

Iranians women at University of Tehran before the Islamic Revolution

Khomeini's females followers after the Islamic Revolution

During the past forty years, many families have lost their loved ones in the jails by the hands of the government. My uncle was arrested by the government ten years after the revolution just because he did not believe in Islamic ideologies. He studied in one of the best universities of Iran and was a judge. He was involved with Khomeini’s ideologies such as writing articles and publishing them in the newspaper. According to what my mother says, one day the government officials attacked his house and took him to jail. After four years, while he suffered a lot of mental and physical torture, he was killed, and the government did not let his family see him before he died. This event affected my grandparents and my mother’s life a lot. They became depressed, and they still are. I clearly remember when I was kid, my mother stared at her brother’s picture and cried a lot. She said she never forgave them because her parents lost their son and she lost her lovely brother for nothing.

The family of political people who were killed by the Islamic Republic of Iran while they were innocent

In addition, In the past forty years, the international relations with other countries, especially with the United States and Israel, have become worse. The first consequence of this aggressive policy was the war between Iran and Iraq where many people were killed or crippled. My father who was in the war, was one of the victims. Because of chemical warfare, now he has lung problems. Since the Islamic Republic of Iran started its hostile policy with the west, it has been very difficult for Iranians to travel to most countries in the world because they cannot easily get visas. For example, my sister is a lawyer and has worked more than ten years. Her English is very good, and she tried several times to participate in some conferences in Europe. However, she could not get visa. She also tried to get a visa to travel to Sweden to visit my sisters, but she could not get one. Moreover, five years ago I tried to get visa for Sweden, but I could not get one either. 

muslim protester against the U.S and Israel

Finally, this revolution created a lot of economic problems for Iranians including my family. Khomeini had said in the beginning that “Economy is for the donkey” because the mullahs, the religious experts who are in power, have no knowledge about modern economy and believe the Quran has everything people need to know. The effect of this thinking has ruined the Iranian economy. I was born during the Iran-Iraq war, and I grew up in the postwar times in Iran. At that time, many things were expensive and rare. I clearly remember that my sisters and I shared our winter coats and shoes because we were unable to buy enough for each of us to have. During these forty years, the value of Iranian currency has declined greatly especially in the last ten years, and it has now little value with 45% inflation. For instance, my savings in Iran, that was $25,000, is now worth about $5,000, and it continues to devalue. 

Today, when I think of all these adversities, worries, and disasters, I wish that this revolution had never happened. If it never happened, I would be in my country close to my family. My uncle would still be alive, so my grandparents and my mother would be happy. In addition, I would not have had to suffer a difficult childhood with poverty. Moreover, we would not be worried about war, economy, jail, or anything else. Iranians would have normal lives like the other people in free countries. During the past forty years, many people thought that reforms can solve the problems that were created after the revolution, but only regime change can free people from these monsters.