It was 5 am Sunday morning 1st of March, 2026. My mother received a SMS from her niece, “Aunty they are attacking, we won’t have internet soon. We are ok”.
Freedom on the the tipping point, a monstrous regime about to fall.
90 minutes later a phone call, tears of jubilation and a voice screaming: “Aunty!!, he is dead!!!, he is dead!!!, we are free!!!” then the phone line cut out. Again, no internet. Waiting to hear those voices once again. The beginning of the end on the horizon. One step closer to a free Iran.
Another text came through again today: ” Aunty, they are bombing day and night, but we are ok. Don’t worry, we are safe”. Letting out a slight exhalation. Momentary relief sets in as our collective shoulders drop away from our ears. And we wait. Such is the process of freedom. The human face. The real sacrifice. The small wins. Waiting.
Watching the news feels surreal. The images on the screen seem remote and removed from the mundane chores and all the distractions of daily life. The otherness of distance suddenly collapses as those of us in diaspora hold our breath waiting to hear a voice note or to receive a text message. Will our beloveds make it out alive in the crossfire to enjoy this hard won freedom? How to celebrate and mourn simultaneously? The paradox of conflict hits hard. Here we are still waiting.
The slogans I see all over social media: “this is not an act of war, this is a rescue mission”, resonates. Such is the experience of so many of us Iranians. Waiting to hear. Standing in solidarity. Praying for a new beginning. Desperate for change and for our human rights. Standing with the collective pain and remembering that, rhetoric aside, we are all real people with real stories. And one truth is that no one willingly flees from their homeland. So many of us long to return to see the glory that was Iran, rise again from the ashes. A phoenix of this epoch.
The stories are many, and a deep tapestry of pain follows us as a humanity. Show me a culture, a people, a place, a country that hasn’t ever suffered. The stain is on all of us.
The time has come to truly live in a world where light reigns. To stand for our fragility and our strength. The price for this light is great, and the darker the times the greater the revolution of light. Have we not seen this already in history? That movement from the Dark Ages to the Renaissance? I feel this is another turn in our lived history. One where we are all asked to stand in the light and champion our humanity.
Let us remember, we must return to balance and find the equilibrium.
May the veil of hypocrisy end, and the appetite for power and greed be satiated by the memory that we are here to carry the beacon of light. The world needs us to stand together in this vision. Leaders, we call on you to hear us. Be our voice. And my beloved people, we are waiting. Waiting to hear from you. Waiting to see you, eye to eye. Waiting to embrace you and share a meal. Waiting to sing, to dance and be in the light of freedom- a free Iran once again.
So, let it be so.
Nazanin Marashian - LOVE & heART 