The first Iranian person I ever met was Arezu, a classmate in my university language programme in the United States. She taught me that her name means hope. She spoke proudly about Persian poetry, art, and history, and about her family’s departure after the 1979 revolution. Over the years, every Iranian I have met, in Iran and abroad, has carried that same blend of cultural pride, brilliance and resilience.
My academic interest in geopolitics later pushed me to study Iran more deeply. What I discovered was a country often reduced to headlines, yet far richer in reality. Iran is a nation shaped by a vibrant civilisation, revolution, war, sanctions and sustained geopolitical pressure. It is also a society of over 93 million people navigating modernity, identity and sovereignty under intense global scrutiny.
Understanding Iran today requires acknowledging its sophistication. The Islamic Republic of Iran holds regular presidential and parliamentary elections, and the president is chosen through direct popular vote. A democratic peaceful transition of power even the US is struggling to guarantee for the 2028 Presidential elections. Yet Iran's political system is also shaped by unelected institutions, and candidates are vetted before elections take place. Perhaps the most obvious external judgement error of these unelected institutions was supporting militias that committed war crimes against the people of Syria, causing the suffering of millions of people, and making it hard for the Arab, Muslim world and the Global South to trust the narrative of the Iranian government. This duality, participation within limits, helps explain the wide range of political attitudes inside the country.
Recent election data illustrate how public sentiment has shifted. The 2024 presidential election recorded a turnout of roughly 40 per cent in the first round and nearly 50 per cent in the runoff, the lowest presidential participation since the revolution. Earlier elections told a different story: turnout exceeded 80 per cent in 2017. Parliamentary elections in 2024 saw participation fall to about 41 per cent, another historic low. Analysts widely link this decline to international sanctions and economic hardship which is causing growing public disillusionment.
Sanctions are not abstract policy tools. Research consistently shows they weaken currencies, increase inflation, reduce investment, and limit job opportunities. A number of studies estimate that without sanctions, Iran’s economy could have grown closer to 4 to 5 per cent annually rather than around 3 per cent. Behind these statistics are real people navigating rising costs, limited opportunities, and uncertainty about the future. This is the reality often lost in geopolitical rhetoric and fails to capture how the country is full of talent and potential who would never think of change if it wasn’t for the imposed crippling economic hardship.
The Iranian public is not a monolith. Some citizens demand what they view as reform, greater personal freedoms, and deeper engagement with the global economy. Others prioritise sovereignty and stability in the face of external pressure. Many hold both views simultaneously. This tension is the hallmark of a society in transition.
This complexity matters because global narratives frequently reduce Iran to a geopolitical battleground rather than recognising its people as active participants in shaping their future.
History offers many warnings about isolating entire populations and freedom through Aircraft carriers and bombing campaigns. Sanctions, wars and economic pressure rarely affect elites first. They affect students, families, entrepreneurs and young people trying to build their lives. The Global South has already witnessed the devastating consequences of prolonged instability, from Iraq to Syria to Yemen, not to mention Venezuela and Cuba. The lesson is clear: Escalation rarely delivers peace or prosperity.
Today, the world is entering a new geopolitical era marked by rising scepticism, shifting alliances, and growing distrust in global institutions. This scepticism is supported by the recent failure in the US to arrest, prosecute or convict any suspects web of powerful financiers, big tech billionaires, royals, and politicians involved in child trafficking and paedophilia, despite the release of millions of official judicial documents, weathering away trust in the US-dominated international world order. For this reason, there can be no amount of information and psychological warfare that can convince people, especially in the Global South to stand against decent Iranians being attacked by the Epstein class and its backers.
In such a moment, the language of confrontation becomes dangerously easy. Yet history shows that sustainable progress emerges from dialogue, economic opportunity, and mutual respect. These tools, entrusted to international bodies such as the UN and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and regional bodies such as the Arab League are now dysfunctional, due to their failure to uphold human dignity, defend Palestinian people and stop the genocide in Gaza. For this reason, these bodies are now being strong-armed by the Board of Peace which officially includes war criminals, and a new Israeli Occupation alliance of unwilling Global South participants, compromised by Epstein-like intelligence operations.
Standing with the people of Iran does not mean ignoring internal challenges or dismissing legitimate right to participate in decision-making. I believe that all revolutions, after a while in power, are susceptible to becoming the perpetrators and victims of the very same rigidity and elitism that legitimised it, and that the right way for revolutions to serve its people is by actively listening to them and guiding them to and through a meaningful and decent standard of living that matches their fiery spirit and ambitions. There is no amount of violence and black operations that can silence free people forever.
The real strategic question is not whether the world agrees with the Iranian government’s policies. The real question is whether you support people’s right to peaceful self-determination.
To assess this developing situation with a framework, we can examine five aspects. Knowledge: Decades of sanctions, wars, and isolation across the region have repeatedly shown the same outcome: Unrest only serves agents of chaos and occupation. Narrative: The Iranian story is not one of a monolithic state, but of millions of decent individuals navigating identity, reform, sovereignty, and survival. Innovation: The next phase of global progress will depend on dialogue, economic integration, and technology-driven cooperation rather than escalation. A choice that the Sultanate of Oman always supports against all odds because history proves it worse. Framework: Sustainable security comes from inclusion and interdependence, not permanent confrontation. Elevation: Standing with the people of Iran is ultimately about defending the universal right of societies to pursue dignity, opportunity, and peaceful progress.
In an era defined by uncertainty, solidarity with people, not criminal bullying and hostility toward nations, remains the most humanly decent strategic path forward.
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