Mr. President, You Asked When the Iranian People Will Rise Up. They Never Stopped Fighting.

On September 1, President Trump asked a question that deserves a direct answer: “When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?”

Mr. President, the Iranian people have been fighting for 47 years. They never stopped.

Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Iranians have risen against a regime that seized their country, destroyed their freedoms, persecuted religious minorities, imprisoned opponents, and used terror, torture, and executions to stay in power. What has changed is not their courage. What has changed is whether the world chooses to hear them.

They have filled the streets and paid an enormous price. Western governments have looked away, choosing negotiations or convenience over standing with them. For decades, Iranians have fought alone. These are only some of the chapters.

1981–1982: The Reign of Terror

In the early years of the Islamic Republic, the regime launched a brutal campaign against political opponents and religious and ethnic minorities. Thousands were arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and executed as the clerics consolidated power. Christians, Baha’is, political opponents, Kurds, Baluchis, and others were persecuted. Anyone who challenged the regime could become a target.

1988: The Prison Massacres

Following an order from Ayatollah Khomeini, thousands of prisoners were executed over several months. Victims were buried in secret mass graves. Families were denied information. The world moved on.

1999: The Student Uprising

In July 1999, students rose after the closure of the reformist newspaper “Salam.” I witnessed Basij members chase students, beat them, throw people from buildings, and shoot in the streets. I watched from my rooftop. That crackdown defined my generation. I will never forget those days, or how quickly the world forgot them.

2009: The Green Movement

After the disputed presidential election, millions marched peacefully. I witnessed this too, from inside Evin Prison, where I was held and sentenced to death because of my faith in Jesus. The regime answered with violence, mass arrests, torture, and killings. The women’s ward was filled with new prisoners marked by the brutality they had suffered in the streets. The international community failed them. President Obama’s silence was a devastating betrayal.

2011–2018: Khuzestan, Nationwide Revolt, and Water

In April 2011, protests in Khuzestan were met with deaths, injuries, and mass arrests. Beginning in December 2017, demonstrations spread across more than 100 cities, shouting against corruption, economic misery, and the Islamic Republic itself. In 2018, even protests over water shortages and environmental destruction became deadly confrontations. The regime used force. The world was silent.

2019: Bloody November

A sudden fuel-price increase became an uprising against the Islamic Republic. Security forces used live ammunition. The exact death toll remains unclear. The message was clear. The regime would kill its own people to remain in power.

2022–2023: Woman, Life, Freedom

The murder of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s “morality police” ignited one of the largest uprisings in the history of the Islamic Republic. Women removed their compulsory headscarves. Men and women stood together, and the world heard the cry: Woman. Life. Freedom. The regime answered with bullets, executions, torture, and mass arrests. Hundreds were killed and tens of thousands imprisoned. Once again they were left largely to fight alone.

2025–2026: The Lion and Sun Revolution

This year’s protests showed again that Iranians have not surrendered. After the January 2026 crackdown, in which a hundred thousand peaceful protesters were killed, many looked to President Trump with hope that America would finally stand with them. His promise that “Help is on the way” inspired them, then left them to be slaughtered alone.

When the United States and Israel weakened key parts of the regime’s security apparatus, Iranians felt gratitude and renewed hope. But tens of thousands had already been massacred. The killing continues. How many times must they walk into the streets unprotected, only to be murdered with no help on the way?

They have been to this rodeo before. They remember 1979, 1988, 1999, 2009, 2019, 2022, and January 2026. They remember those who never came home. So when the President asks when they will rise up and fight, understand that they already have. The question is not whether Iranians are willing to fight. The question is whether the free world will stand with them when they do.

What are Iranians waiting for? They are waiting to know that America will not abandon them again. They want the United States and its allies to listen to Iranians, not lobbyists, apologists, or manufactured “opposition” figures. They want the West to recognize the opposition millions of Iranians themselves support, including Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. Above all, they want a clear signal that America will not throw them under the bus once they rise. Again.

The Islamic Republic will slaughter its people to survive. America has the power, intelligence, diplomacy, and alliances to make that much harder. Iranians do not. You have a security detail because your enemies, including this regime, have threatened your life. Walking into the streets against unvarnished brutality takes extraordinary courage. Even courage has limits.

Do not ask when they will rise again without creating the conditions in which they can survive. Prevent the regime from shutting down the internet and hiding massacres. Neutralize the forces sent to murder peaceful protesters. Keep economic pressure on the regime and dismantle its ability to finance repression and terrorism.

Listen directly to the Iranian people. Support the representatives they recognize. Listen to the mothers who lost children, the fathers who buried sons, the women who removed their hijabs knowing they could be arrested, the prisoners who survived torture, and the families still searching for graves. Iranians have been speaking for 47 years.

The regime wants the world to believe Iranians are passive, divided, or unwilling to fight. That is a lie. What they have learned through decades of bloodshed is that courage alone is not enough. They need to know that when they rise, America will not negotiate their future away. They need to know their sacrifice will not be forgotten.

They are not asking America to fight their battle for them. They are asking America not to prevent them from winning it. They are asking for the freedom to determine their own future, to reclaim the country stolen in 1979, and for America to stand on the right side of history.

When the President asks, “When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?” my answer is simple: They never stopped fighting.

My question to you, Mr. President, is this: Are you ready to make sure they do not have to fight and win alone?

Marziyeh (Marzi) Amirizadeh is an Iranian American author, public speaker, human rights advocate, and President of Newpersia.org. She has written two books, “Captive in Iran,” and “A Love Journey with God,” which are available on www.marzisjourney.com. She is an Iranian American who immigrated to the US after being sentenced to death by hanging in Iran for the crime of converting to Christianity. She endured months of mental and physical hardships and intense interrogation in Evin Prison- one of the most brutal prisons in the world.

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