The Iranian people deserve better than the procrastination of the Europeans.

*This article was originally published in French

Excerpt

The fall of tyrants is never clean. But it is still the fall of tyrants. Masoud Zatparvar was 38 years old. A bodybuilder. An Iranian. In his last post, on January 8, 2026, he wrote: “We only want our rights. I am in the street today. I have neither fear nor worry.” He was shot dead hours later in Rasht, killed by his own government. His Instagram account has never been updated since.

That night and the next day, the regime’s forces killed an estimated 36,000 protesters in 48 hours. Thirty-six thousand. In two days. Since yesterday, in Tehran, people are dancing in the streets beneath the bombs. Not in spite of them. Because of them.

Simone Rodan-Benzaquen is senior envoy to Europe at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.