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Ideas

Why The Fate Of Iran (Like Ukraine!) Is About Something Much Bigger

Just as Ukrainians are defending the sovereignty of Europe's borders and the right to democracy, the Iranians risking their lives to protest are fighting a bigger battle for peace across the Middle East.

Photo of members of the Iranian paramilitary volunteer forces (Basij)

Members of Iranian paramilitary volunteer forces (Basij) during a meeting with Iranian Supreme leader

Kayhan-London

-OpEd-

Tumult has been a constant in human societies, alternating between periods of war and peace. Iran, my country, has had more than its fair share of turmoil.

It is universal to be hopeful that the peaceful periods would be prolonged by increased freedom in society brought about by scientific, economic and legal progress.

And it has, but mostly in the West and in countries in south-east Asia. There, they have used the force of economic development to assure their citizens a measure of peace and security, with or without democracy. This certainly is not the case in the Middle East, in many African countries and even in Latin American states run by the "anti-imperialist" Left.

Many of these places have, among other troubles affecting them, become the den of that violent and vicious ideology, Islamism.


It's no accident that officials of the Islamic Republic are discreetly looking for a hideaway and refuge for themselves in socialist-run Venezuela.

Iranians battle against tyranny

Islamism — a radical political agenda that seeks legitimacy in religion — is the tumor of the Middle East. It began to grow in the mid-20th century and has expanded almost unchecked, spreading its hatred of Western liberalism with all the propaganda tools of the modern world. Not confining itself to that cursed region, its metastasis has taken the form of intimidation inside Western societies and worldwide terrorism.

The Islamic Republic that came to power in Iran in 1979 is its epicenter. The apparent variants of the fundamentalist ideology are only masks for a single hatred of freedom and the urge to subjugate.

Iran's regime has used the nation's resources over four decades to strengthen and promote radicalism, though naturally, thanks to freedom, Western states were better able to fight its influence than the downtrodden societies of the Middle East.

The end of that regime may yet help to usher in another one of those peaceful periods.

After the September 11 attacks, the United States and Europe blocked the Islamist inroad, but only into their own lands. The Middle East continues to heave under the weight of the oppression of Islamism, even as its tentacles reach far beyond the region.

Just as many Europeans will see Ukraine's resistance as a defensive war on their behalf, so the world must see the resolve of Iranians to free themselves from tyranny as a similar battle on behalf of regional and international peace. The end of that regime may yet help to usher in another one of those peaceful periods.


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Society

How Argentina Is Changing Tactics To Combat Gender Violence

Argentina has tweaked its protocols for responding to sexual and domestic violence. It hopes to encourage victims to report crimes and reveal information vital to a prosecution.

A black and white image of a woman looking at a memorial wall in Argentina.

A woman looking at a memorial wall in Argentina.

CC search
Mara Resio

BUENOS AIRES - In the first three months of 2023, Argentina counted 116 killings of women, transvestites and trans-people, according to a local NGO, Observatorio MuMaLá. They reveal a pattern in these killings, repeated every year: most femicides happen at home, and 70% of victims were protected in principle by a restraining order on the aggressor.

✉️ You can receive our LGBTQ+ International roundup every week directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.

Now, legal action against gender violence, which must begin with a formal complaint to the police, has a crucial tool — the Protocol for the Investigation and Litigation of Cases of Sexual Violence (Protocolo de investigación y litigio de casos de violencia sexual). The protocol was recommended by the acting head of the state prosecution service, Eduardo Casal, and laid out by the agency's Specialized Prosecution Unit for Violence Against Women (UFEM).

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