RootsAction stands in solidarity with Iranian people — teachers, workers, shopkeepers, women, children, and minorities of every religious and ethnic background — who are rising up against repression in pursuit of justice, basic freedom and dignity. What Iranians show time and time again is resilience and courage.
In addition to living under strict laws and abuses of human rights by the regime, Iranians have endured decades of economic hardship and pressure from outside forces that have repeatedly exploited this pain, treating Iranian lives as political tools.
For years, U.S. sanctions have been used as weapons of war against Iranians and as tools of collective punishment. Rather than weakening authoritarian elites, these sanctions have crushed ordinary people. They have halted the export and import of basic medical supplies, devastated civil society, and collapsed currencies, making survival itself a daily struggle. At the same time, they have fueled black markets and strengthened the very security apparatus they claim to undermine. Every time Iranians take to the streets to protest, in response we hear slogans and hollow policies designed in Washington under the rhetoric of “human rights.”
We also cannot ignore the influence of U.S. allies in the region in shaping a permanent state of hostility toward Iran. These pressures have encouraged far-right political agendas to ignore negotiations and diplomatic solutions. Time and again, Israel has worked relentlessly to isolate Iran, sabotage nuclear talks, and push toward all-out war.
These barbaric escalations have nothing to do with seeking diplomatic change in Iran. They are aimed at weakening Iranian society, controlling its people, and maintaining regional dominance through militarization. After all, how can countries that fund genocide truly care about Iranian families and children? This hypocrisy is staggering. Iranian lives are exploited to justify sanctions, cyberwarfare, and isolation, yet those same lives are crushed under the heavy weight of cruel policies, and the suffering is dismissed as insignificant.
In this very moment, real solidarity means standing against all systems of injustice and violence targeted at civilians — from Israel’s genocide against Palestinians, to ICE brutality against immigrant communities in the United States — and standing shoulder to shoulder with Iranians resisting authoritarianism. The message should be clear: the Iranian people do not want regime change imposed by military force.
For years, U.S. sanctions have been used as weapons of war against Iranians and as tools of collective punishment. Rather than weakening authoritarian elites, these sanctions have crushed ordinary people. They have halted the export and import of basic medical supplies, devastated civil society, and collapsed currencies, making survival itself a daily struggle. At the same time, they have fueled black markets and strengthened the very security apparatus they claim to undermine. Every time Iranians take to the streets to protest, in response we hear slogans and hollow policies designed in Washington under the rhetoric of “human rights.”
We also cannot ignore the influence of U.S. allies in the region in shaping a permanent state of hostility toward Iran. These pressures have encouraged far-right political agendas to ignore negotiations and diplomatic solutions. Time and again, Israel has worked relentlessly to isolate Iran, sabotage nuclear talks, and push toward all-out war.
These barbaric escalations have nothing to do with seeking diplomatic change in Iran. They are aimed at weakening Iranian society, controlling its people, and maintaining regional dominance through militarization. After all, how can countries that fund genocide truly care about Iranian families and children? This hypocrisy is staggering. Iranian lives are exploited to justify sanctions, cyberwarfare, and isolation, yet those same lives are crushed under the heavy weight of cruel policies, and the suffering is dismissed as insignificant.
In this very moment, real solidarity means standing against all systems of injustice and violence targeted at civilians — from Israel’s genocide against Palestinians, to ICE brutality against immigrant communities in the United States — and standing shoulder to shoulder with Iranians resisting authoritarianism. The message should be clear: the Iranian people do not want regime change imposed by military force.
