150 students from Alzahra University have recently been banned from entering, and this action comes at a time when activists of the Women, Life, Freedom movement discussed the necessity of forming a coordination and leadership council under the title 'Iran Alternative' at a conference.
Need for a Comprehensive Alternative
Sasan Ardakani, a representative of the 'National Network of Women-Life-Freedom Revolution' in the first panel of the conference, emphasized the necessity of having a comprehensive alternative and said: 'We need to bring together various political forces from parties to individual activists and independent organizations and institutions so that we can get closer to the minimum common goals we have and create an institution or alternative whose aim is to overthrow the Islamic Republic.' He also stated that in this movement, political differences will be recognized, and he considered the principles of the Women, Life, Freedom movement as inviolable principles.
Read more: Condition for the registration of migrant students in Iran; parents' residency is decisive
Emphasis on Diversity and Solidarity
Mohi, one of the students and a victim of the nationwide protests of 2022, addressed the impact of the Women, Life, Freedom uprising on the changes in Iranian society and said: 'In the years following 2022, we have witnessed workers, students, teachers, and other segments of society taking to the streets, each expressing their protests and dissatisfaction with their own demands.' He emphasized the necessity of creating solidarity and understanding the diversity of Iranian society and added: 'Iranian society is not homogeneous, and it is not supposed that everyone has the same mindset.'
One of the activists from Sistan and Baluchestan province also referred to the repressions and said: 'The issue of Baluchistan is not just repression. This community, with this level of dissatisfaction and protest, must become an effective political force for change.' He emphasized that protests can only be fruitful when they are organized and added: 'A comprehensive alternative must be able to tell the people of Iran what kind of government will be established after the Islamic Republic.'
Necessity of Organization and Trust
At this conference, Maryam from Fars province also emphasized the necessity of eliminating discrimination against women and supporting the LGBTQ+ community and said: 'The expansion of the revolution in Iran will be realized when it goes beyond optional hijab and also pursues the demands of workers and the lower class of society.'
One of the labor activists also emphasized the need for organization and the formation of an effective political alternative within Iran and said: 'The mere expansion of protests is not enough for the overthrow of the government.' He called for the creation of networks that remain active even between protests and can bring new experiences and forces into the movement.
Ava, another speaker, referring to the changes in Iranian society, said: 'The Iranian woman is no longer a subject under control but a political activist.' She emphasized that the streets and universities have become small fields of resistance, and these capacities must be transformed into an effective and decisive force.
Omid Vaisi, a representative of the Revolutionary Students Organization of Alborz, also pointed to the lack of a cohesive political force for the transitional period and said that an alternative must be able to bring together opposing forces. Hadis Sabouri, a women's rights activist and former political prisoner, emphasized that dissatisfaction and protest alone cannot bring about political change and that there is a need for organization and trust to create sustainable change.
She concluded by saying: 'A society that wants to change must know what it wants after the change.'
Read more: Zahra Sadat and her mentor were martyred during a joint trip · Iraqis gather in protest against Iran's air blockade
