Sixteen years ago, Marziyeh Amirizadeh and a friend, Maryan Rostampour, were jailed by Iran’s Islamic government. The supposed crime was converting to Christianity.
They spent 259 days in captivity and were sentenced to death by hanging before being released only after their case attracted international attention.
Ultimately, they fled to America where they co-authored “Captive In Iran," which retold their story of suffering for their faith in Tehran's infamous Evin prison.
Amirizadeh, who maintains strong contacts in Iran, says the images on social media show the bombs but also something else. There’s joy among the people, she insists, who hope they’re watching the death throes of the regime.
“Millions of Iranians are very happy seeing the elimination of IRGC terrorists,” she said on Washington Watch Tuesday.
This is not a time of sadness for most Iranian civilians, she said. They find joy in the attacks against regime leaders, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) and other tormentors.
“They are sharing videos and films, mocking them. Especially on the first day, they shared their celebrations that how much they are happy,” Amirizadeh told show host Tony Perkins.
The videos show jam-packed Iranian freeways (pictured below) with people urgently trying to leave Tehran, especially after U.S. President Donald Trump encouraged them to get out.
Before the departures there were street parties, impromptu crowds and celebrations, tangible evidence of decades of oppression fueled by new hope.
But videos like this one, as a crowd cheers a woman who stands atop a car, removes her hijab and waves it defiantly, are also countered by lies.
“Unfortunately, some people, Western leftists and the agents of the regime, those who are supported by the regime outside, try to spread lies and propaganda to show how much people are upset against Israel. This is not true,” Amirizadeh said.
The Iranian people understand war, the attacks, the missiles, the death and destruction.
They also understand they’re not in the crosshairs, that the real targets are regime leadership, the military and most of all, nuclear facilities.
“No one likes war, to get killed in the war, but that shows how much Iranians suffered for more than 40 years, and their pain and suffering is much higher. That's why they prefer to see that the butchers of their children are getting killed in this war.”
In Iran, Amirizadeh grew up under the dictates of Sharia law, which denies women of many basic rights.
She was shunned by her family and struggled to earn a living.
Unrest before the attacks
Before the Israel attacks began on June 13, there were ominous signs in Iran, strikes by truck drivers and bakers in 72 cities across the country.
Amirizadeh wrote about the unrest in a blog post on May 27.
“It's taken a few days for the West to wake up to and realize the significance of strikes that are taking place and widening throughout Iran, and to report on these. What's needed now is for Western leaders to take action that capitalizes on these strikes and empowers the Iranian people to replace the evil Islamic Republic regime which has threatened them and the world, causing immeasurable pain, suffering, trauma, and death for nearly five decades,” she wrote.
The lack of goods led to starvation among many Iranians, Amirizadeh wrote, yet the people took their protests to the streets, unmasked and risking arrest and beatings by security police.
“Iranians know that the regime has done this in the past through the police and through imported hired thugs from its proxies around the world, ready to kill in the case the unrest gets too uncomfortable for the ayatollahs,” she wrote.
These are the people who now cheer as their homeland is bombed by Israeli jets passing overhead.
Regime change is the “hope of the majority of Iranians,” Amirizadeh said.
The hope doesn’t come without a plan.
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran, the son of the last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, could unite Iranians, she said.
Pahlavi has been vocal in urging an uprising to overthrow the Islamic regime.
He accuses regime leaders of dragging Iran into conflict with Israel and squandering the nation’s resources on nuclear programs which has lead to the economic crisis.
Pahlavi has emphasized a plan for a transition to a democratic government and is trying to assure Iranians that the country won’t descend into chaos as the regime falls.
“The Islamic Republic has come to its end and is collapsing. What has begun is irreversible. The future is bright, and together we will turn the page of history. Now is the time to stand up; the time to reclaim Iran. May I be with you soon,” Pahlavi wrote on social media Tuesday.
Amirizadeh: People call for son of shah
Pahlahvi visited Israel in 2023 where he attended a Holocaust Memorial ceremony at Yad Vashem, met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and emphasized a future of Iranian–Israeli partnership.
The visit underscored Israel’s commitment to unity with the Iranian people, The Jerusalem Post reported.
“There is a high hope for Prince Pahlavi. That’s the only legitimate opposition. The Iranian people trusted him,” Amirizadeh said.
“Many times during many protests, Iranians called his name and asked for his return. That’s a big hope among Iranians, that finally America and Israel stand with Prince Pahlavi and help him to restore democracy and freedom in Iran.”
