To the people of Iran.
For 47 years, you have lived under a regime that has tried to control nearly every aspect of your lives. For 47 years, you have endured repression, fear, censorship, imprisonment, violence, and the denial of freedoms that millions of people around the world take for granted. Generations of Iranians have grown up knowing nothing but the Islamic Republic.
And yet, after everything you have endured, you are still standing.
Your regime has tried to silence you, but your voices continue to be heard. It has tried to frighten you into submission, but you continue to find the courage to resist. It has tried to convince you that nothing will ever change, because hopelessness is the most powerful weapon an authoritarian regime can possess.
Do not give them that victory.
Iran is far greater than the regime that has ruled it since 1979. Iran is thousands of years of history, culture, poetry, art, science, family, and civilization. The Islamic Republic does not own Iran. The Revolutionary Guards do not own Iran. Iran belongs to its people.
I have followed your protests with respect and admiration. I have watched Iranian women openly defy the restrictions imposed upon them. I have watched young Iranians take to the streets knowing the enormous risks they were taking. I have watched ordinary people stand up against a regime willing to use imprisonment, torture, and violence to maintain its power.
When I see Iranians protesting for their freedom, I see courageous human beings fighting for their country and their future. I see people who want many of the same things that people everywhere want: freedom, dignity, opportunity, security, and the ability to build a better life for their children.
Your courage is extraordinary, and I fully support your struggle for freedom.
Every time you refuse to surrender your dignity, you demonstrate something the regime desperately wants the world to forget: Iran and the Islamic Republic are not the same thing.
There have been moments the world has failed you. There have been moments where Iranians have taken enormous risks, only to feel that the international community looked away. Those moments should never be forgotten.
But neither should your courage.
No dictatorship is eternal. No ruler is immortal. No system built on fear can guarantee its survival forever. Governments can imprison people, censor the internet, shut down universities, suppress demonstrations, and attempt to erase dissent. But they cannot permanently extinguish the desire of millions of human beings to determine their own future.
One day, Iran can be a country where people are not afraid of their own government. A country where women can decide how to dress. Where journalists can write without fearing prison. Where people can protest without wondering whether they will return home. Where political prisoners return to their families. Where young Iranians dream about building their lives instead of escaping their country.
And one day, Iran can once again have peaceful relations with countries that this regime has spent decades teaching you to hate.
As an Israeli, there is something I want to make absolutely clear: Our fight has never been against the Iranian people. Our fight is against the brutal and evil dictatorship that has held the Iranian people hostage for the last 47 years. It is against a regime that oppresses its own citizens while dedicating enormous resources to hatred, extremism, terrorism, and war, instead of improving your lives.
The Israeli people and the Iranian people were never enemies. The conflict between Israel and Iran was never a conflict between peoples. It was created by a regime that chose hostility, extremism, hate, and confrontation. Before the Islamic Republic, our countries maintained relations, and even throughout the decades of hostility, there have been Israelis and Iranians who continued to see one another not as enemies, but as two peoples who deserve peace and prosperity. I believe that one day, when this chapter of history is over, the friendship between our two ancient peoples will finally be able to flourish openly once again.
I hope for the day when Iranians will be able to come and visit Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem, and Israelis will be able to travel safely to Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Tabriz. I hope for the day when people hear the word “Iran” and their first thoughts will no longer be nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, war, threats, and repression. I hope they think instead, of Iran’s extraordinary people, its ancient civilization, its rich culture, its history, its cities, its art, its poetry, and everything the Iranian people have contributed to the world, about thousands of years of Persian civilization. Iran deserves to be known for the greatness of its people, not for the actions of the dictatorship that has ruled them for nearly half a century.
Imagine what Iran could become if its extraordinary people were allowed to direct their talent, energy, resources, and natural resources, toward building their country rather than sustaining confrontation and repression. Imagine an Iran connected to the world, prospering economically, celebrating its ancient heritage, and allowing its young generation to shape its future.
That future is possible.
Perhaps it will not come tomorrow. Perhaps the road will still be difficult. Nobody can promise when change will come or what challenges will accompany it.
But 47 years of oppression do not have to become 48, 50, or another generation.
Your history did not begin with the Islamic Republic and it does not have to end with it.
So to every Iranian who dreams of freedom, to every woman demanding control over her own life, to every young person who wants a future inside Iran rather than outside it, to every family that has suffered, and to everyone who has refused to stop believing in a better country: Do not lose hope. There can be another Iran. A free Iran. A peaceful Iran. A prosperous Iran. An Iran at peace with its neighbors and the world. An Iran that belongs to its people.
And when that day finally comes, I hope the whole world will celebrate with you. I know Israelis will celebrate alongside you.
To the people of Iran: May you live to see the country you deserve.
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