Iran has risen again, and this time after the murder of the young Kurdish woman, Jina (Mahsa) Amini by the state. She was killed when she was in custody of the “morality police”. The whole world watched the uprise turn into a Feminist Revolution. Women take their mandatory hijabs off on the streets, they cut their hair, and burn their head scarves. People chant the slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi”in Kurish, “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi” in Farsi, “Women, Life, Freedom” in English. The streets of Iran are filled with women and young girls. The LGBTQ+ community that was forced to be invisible under Sharia’ law, is now taking the lead in demonstrations in the diaspora. The revolution has inspired international communities all around the globe and the demonstrations outside of Iran reflect the very essence of this revolution: women’s autonomy over their bodies and their lives.

But here we are again; The New York Times publishes an article by Vivian Yee and Farnaz Fassihi in which the morality police are mentioned just once and the sanctions (at least in a direct manner) are mentioned seven times. One does not need to be an expert on discourse analysis to notice that the very slogan of the revolution is missing in the text. There is no reference or mention of people’s chanting “Down with the dictator” in the streets of Iran. The author chose to only focus on Iran’s economy and manipulate the reader to believe that  reviving the nuclear deal could solve Iran's problems. The article even fails to mention the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) major role in suffocating the economy. The New York Times chooses to formulate the problem as mismanagement from the government, U.S.-led sanctions, and the pandemic. The Iranian protests in 2019 and the protests happening today targets the systematic patriarchy, religious dictatorships, centralized military, economic power controlled by the supreme leader, isolation from the world, sponsoring terrorism in the region and oppressing people in Syria, Lebonan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kurdistan, and Ukraine. Simplifying all of these criticisms as “mismanagement” is an incredibly deceptive way of describing the situation as well as poor journalism.

There is no doubt about the ineffectiveness of US sanctions and their catastrophic consequences on the people of Iran. Union activists, workers and their associations, feminists and leftist activists have reported and warned about the economic situation of Iran. However, what we see in the structure of Fasihi’s article is stating a portion of the truth without laying out the context; manipulation and propaganda by definition. 

The regime has suffocated women and the LGBTQ+ community and deprived them of their bodily autonomy and even their right to exist. As much as people are fed up with the economic situation, they are on the streets chanting “Women, Life, Freedom”. Iranian people understand the system of oppression is affecting their economy, safety, health, and diversity. The oppressive regime operates by creating divisions and marginalizing ethnic, sexual, and class minorities. The Iranian people understand that the oppressive regime does not have the capacity for reform or progress and they want to abolish the patriarchal system and desire a democracy where people can live freely.

We, the people who sign this statement, are concerned about this form of truth distortion and find the rhetoric promoted in such articles as extremely problematic. The people of Iran have made their intentions and their demands very clear. The slogan “woman, life, freedom” is chanted in every corner of Iran and among Iranians in diaspora. Context is the key and articles commenting on the Iran Revolution in this sensitive time need to be written responsibly. We are concerned about this approach that does not address the complexity of the problems and reduces this cultural, social, and political movement as a result of the Nuclear Deal. Iran’s oppressive regime existed before the sanctions and before the first Nuclear Deal. Associating everything to the U.S. and the sanctions means to neglect the agency of the people. The Iran regime alone is responsible for their crimes against humanity. The crimes cannot be blamed on the sanctions. Nuclear Deals are not the cure for the regime’s cruelty. We condemn any attempts from any organization or media to excuse the regime while people are losing their lives in Iran. We ask the international community to condemn the reductive approach of this article. A final word to Regime apologists; we do not want the Islamic Republic in Iran and we do not see the need for a Nuclear Deal under an illegitimate Regime.
نیویورک تایمز در مقاله‌ای شرایط کنونی مردم ایران را به تحریم‌ها و وضعیت بد اقتصادی تقلیل می‌دهد. مقاله جدید است، اما از «گشت ارشاد» تنها یک بار اسم برده می‌شود. حتی به شعار پیشروی انقلاب امروز، «زن، زندگی، آزادی» نیز ارجاع نمی‌دهد. مشکلات تماماً از دریچه‌ی ارتباط با آمریکا نشان داده می‌شوند و عاملیت مردم ایران و پتانسیل جنبش برای ترقی کاملاً نادیده گرفته می‌شود.

این اولین باری نیست که از نویسنده‌هایی از این دست، توصیف‌هایی می‌خوانیم و می‌شنویم که تقلیل‌دهنده و در همسویی با حاکمیت ایران‌اند. در حالی که مردم جان خود را برداشته و به خیابان می‌برند، در حالی که تن‌های محذوف، تن‌های کرد و ترک و کوییر و عرب و بلوچ، با زخم و دردشان در برابر رژیمی سرکوب‌گر می‌ایستند، تقلیل چنین خفقانی به «سوءمدیریت» چیزی جز فریب نیست.
ما امضاءکنندگان این بیانیه، از نیویورک تایمز و سایر رسانه‌ها می‌خواهیم که فضایی را که پوزش‌خواهان رژیم گرفته‌اند، به مردم، به صاحبان این انقلاب برگردانند. ما می‌خواهیم رسانه‌های نه تنها آمریکا، که تمام جهان را در برابر انسان جهان جنوب مسئول کنیم.