Iranian Community in South Africa Confronts Pretoria, Calls for Iran to Be Freed from Tyranny

In a press statement, representatives of South Africa’s Iranian community called for their country to be liberated from oppression, saying they were speaking “not only as members of the Iranian community in South Africa, but as sons and daughters of an ancient nation” who deserved to be free.

The statement, released as United States and Israeli operations against Iran began, described the action as not directed against the Iranian people but against the authoritarian regime in Tehran. The statement drew on both ancient and modern history to underscore what it called the “true Iranian identity”.

There is a strong global diaspora of Iranians who have had to flee persecution in their country and who see an opportunity in the current conflict to be liberated from oppression.

The South African Iranian community argued that present-day Iran has diverged sharply from the country’s heritage. For “47 years”, their statement says, the regime has poured national wealth into “a singular obsession: the destruction of Israel”, and the funding of “terror proxies”, while ordinary Iranians endure sanctions, corruption, and repression.

“Millions of Iranians, inside the country and across the diaspora, have long hoped that the free world would confront this threat – not only for Israel’s safety, but for Iran’s liberation.”

The statement stressed that “this fight is not against Iran – it is against tyranny”.

The statement further accused the Iranian authorities of massacring, imprisoning, and executing peaceful protesters at home.

Thousands of civilians were recently killed during civil rights protests in the country.

South Africa’s government and the African National Congress (ANC), which holds a plurality in parliament, are allied with the autocratic regime and against the civil rights of Iranian citizens.

Yesterday, the ANC issued a statement offering its sincere condolences on the killing of Iranian dictator Ali Khamenei, who presided over the recent killings of protesters.

The Iranian community has called on South Africa’s government, which refused to join a global denunciation of the killings, to “immediately cease its political alignment with and support for this regime”, arguing that standing with Tehran represents “a betrayal of the very principles of freedom and human dignity”.

See The Common Sense’s recent reporting on the Iran conflict here and here.