[Unpolished] I Am Iran!

Yes, I was meant to write about product and software engineering here, but I am only human after all. I know my voice or a blog post will not change what is happening. The easiest thing would be to say nothing. And for a while, I did. I went offline. I stepped away from social media completely. At work, I carried on as if nothing had changed.

But silence is not an option. Not anymore.

What has unfolded in Iran over the last few months has been sitting heavy on my chest, as it has for many Iranians inside and outside the country.

I chose Australia as my home. I have generally kept my distance from politics, what is happening beyond my home and my control. And yet, I cannot ignore my roots. I cannot forget my people, who have endured wave after wave of hardship for decades under oppressive regimes, foreign interference, wars, sanctions, political and humanitarian unrest.

Writing about this in English is also not that easy. My feelings still live in Farsi. That is where they make the most sense.

This song by  Shervin Hajipour  captures what I am struggling to express. It speaks of wounds that do not break you. Of a voice that cannot be taken. Of a spirit that outlasts every attempt to crush it.

I mourn the innocent lives lost. Deeply. But mourning is not the end of the story. Iran has survived before. It will survive this too. Soon, its people will breathe freely and with dignity.

No noose, no lash, no forced silence can erase what lives inside a nation.

Because I Am Iran.