Iranian 'freedom' won't come from Israeli bombs or US regime change
In an interview last month with the Saudi-funded network Iran International, during Israel's assault on Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Gaza - boasted about what he called "the great slogan of 'Woman, Life, Freedom'".
He recounted the story of an Israeli female pilot flying over Tehran, "targeting missile and nuclear sites, but in a way, fighting for Iranian women and all free peoples everywhere."
Some in the Iranian diaspora have bought into this liberatory myth. But history shows how this ends. Look no further than the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) myth of Iraq, the "bombing women into liberation" myth of Afghanistan, and the regime change to "protect civilians" myth of Libya.
Most Iranian Americans opposed the war and were horrified to see bombs raining down on Iran. But I watched a small, yet extremely vocal, minority of the Iranian diaspora draw radically different conclusions from the same horrors.
This division unfolded at a moment when the stakes were life and death for a country of more than 90 million - and when Israel and the United States had carried out a genocide against Palestinians with near-total impunity for almost two years.
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As an Iranian American, I know this disunity isn't new, but experiencing it this time felt especially devastating - particularly knowing that the approximately five million Iranians living abroad play a significant role in shaping global perceptions of Iran, and that their perspectives significantly influence public opinion within Iran.
Propaganda war
In its attack on Iran, Israel followed the same Zionist playbook it has long used in Gaza and Beirut - most infamously through the "Dahiya Doctrine", which calls for overwhelming force and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.
Criticise the genocide or Israel's aggression, and you're branded a 'regime apologist'. Support freedom for Palestinians and Iranians, and you're called a 'traitor'
It also waged a parallel propaganda campaign targeting the Iranian diaspora, drawing on its Hasbara playbook to frame the violence as liberation.
It became particularly evident during the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement, when Iranian Americans opposing the war faced waves of harassment and bot campaigns - and it has only intensified over the past two years.
Speak out against the genocide or Israel's aggression towards Iran, and these diaspora factions brand you a "regime apologist". Support liberation for both Palestinians and Iranians, and you're labelled a "traitor".
Call for an end to the war without first denouncing the Iranian government and its crimes, and you risk doxxing and harassment.
In 2022, these groups rightly joined the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement to protest the Iranian government's violations against its people, which resulted in 550 people being killed by security forces.
Yet when more than 900 Iranians were killed by Israel in just 12 days, they remained silent.
Silencing dissent
Many Iranian Americans, including myself, have been horrified by Israel's genocide and feared that if such atrocities could be committed with impunity, nothing would stop them from targeting Iranians as well.
While mainstream media outlets consistently gave a platform to pro-Israel voices, our perspectives were largely ignored.
Over the past year, I interviewed 25 members of the Iranian diaspora - research published in Jadaliyya - to understand why so many Iranians support Israel.
Recurring themes emerged: frustration with Tehran's regional priorities over domestic welfare; collective trauma entangled with anti-Arab and Islamophobic attitudes; and, in some cases, sheer opportunism.
Their opposition to the Iranian government distorts their judgment, blinding them to the reality that Israel is not a rational actor - it deliberately targets civilians across the region with impunity.
During the war, these themes - amplified by Hasbara tactics - became even more pronounced.
Images of Iranian children buried under rubble and reports of hundreds killed were quickly dismissed as state propaganda, with claims that all the victims were affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps - echoing Zionist dismissals of Palestinian death tolls because they are from the "Hamas-run health ministry".
When Israel bombed the gates of Evin Prison - killing at least 71 Iranians, many of whom were imprisoned political dissidents and their families - few paused to ask: why was Israel bombing a prison at all? Does bombing a prison where some of the government's most vocal critics are held bring the people any closer to freedom?
Manufactured consent
The embrace of Israeli aggression as a path to Iranian "liberation" partly stems from the most hawkish voices in the diaspora, who frame Israel as the eventual saviour of the Iranian people - as if bombing our own is the price of "liberation".
Most notably, the self-declared "born-again Zionist" Reza Pahlavi, exiled son of the deposed Shah, posted videos declaring "the Islamic Republic's end is near".
Since the war, he has continued to outline a new future for Iran with himself at the centre - even as numerous civil society movements inside the country call for a future determined by Iranians on the ground, who are at the forefront of the struggle.
These same Israeli-backed figures have long fuelled warmongering and posed as diaspora spokespeople - convenient native informants for US and Israeli interests.
Both before and during the war, Israel exploited this fragmentation, tailoring propaganda for Iranian audiences through Persian-language social media posts by its military and subtitled speeches by Netanyahu.
Even the name "Operation Rising Lion" nods to the Shah's emblem, signalling regime change.
As we reflect on the tremendous loss these 12 days of war brought, we must recognise that Israeli impunity is to blame - and so are the diaspora figures who cling to the simplistic "enemy of my enemy is my friend" logic, becoming blind to how they help manufacture consent for the killing of our own.
Even among self-identified, less hawkish, non-monarchist segments of the diaspora, there has been - and still is - a troubling reluctance to criticise Israel. They often frame its genocidal actions as no worse than the Islamic Republic's crimes over the past 46 years, even now.
Inside Iran, however, the war triggered a natural rally-around-the-flag response.
Even former and current political prisoners, including those from the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement, rejected US-Israeli aggression and called for it to end.
Shared struggle
The links between Palestinian and Iranian liberation have never been clearer.
This unprovoked aggression has shown us how Zionist violence, repackaged as "liberation", can reach Iran - with support from our own.
Freedom for Iranians cannot come from external actors, especially not from genocidaires. Neither Israel nor the US will save our people
If the diaspora remains divided by anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia or political posturing, we serve only the systems we claim to resist.
If the diaspora remains divided by anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia or political posturing, we serve only the systems we claim to resist.
Considering Israel's more than 1,000 ceasefire violations, we must ensure this ceasefire is upheld. Only with genuine ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, too, can the first step towards just peace - grounded in accountability - become possible for the entire region.
Iranians have been fighting for freedom for decades. But that freedom cannot - and will not - come from external actors, especially not from genocidaires. Neither Israel nor the US will save our people.
And until we face these truths collectively, we betray both our cause and the people and places we love - from Karaj to Kermanshah, Tabriz to Tehran.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
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