Ashkan Karbasfrooshan

In my soccer playing days, I always implored my teammates to finish their play. If they didn’t score or gave up a goal, it was fine, but if they didn’t finish their play, it was on us.

In politics, Bill Clinton noted that Egyptians who took to Tahrir Square but didn’t follow through by voting didn’t complete their mission to secure the change they sought.

If a year ago you asked me whether Iranians should vote in a parliamentary or presidential election, my natural instinct would have been affirmative. But Iran, or land of the 31 Aryan ethnicities, is the home of the world’s oldest country, inventor of some of the greatest inventions, and/but (and that juxtaposition is half the story here) since 1979, on a collision course with the Western world, led by America and the UK – two countries amongst many including Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Mongols, Turks, Russians, Brits, Americans – who have projected their influence on since Alexander the Great defeated Darius III not once but thrice in the 330s BC.

Today, Iranians are screaming, shouting, crying – asking why the freedoms and liberties that others have adapted from Cyrus the Great‘s Cylinder are not bestowed on them. Iran is a country of 90 million people, it is not a monolith. There are many conflicting views and sentiments.

And yes, I am guilty of empathizing with all people, with opposing perspective. What works in business, management and leadership does not carry well into politics, activism and advocacy. Lesson learned.

But voting is one of the many fundamental rights, so admittedly, when you hear those opposed to the Islamic Republic of Iran urging others to not vote, you ask if you’re not encouraging people to lose the right to criticize the direction of your leaders (what Clinton concluded). But in Iran, since 1979, the president and the parliament are largely figureheads. Iran has always been big business as the world’s first global empire, with its early leaders being the wealthiest and most influential around. Iran, which today d/b/a the Islamic Republic of Iran is funding and supplying the so-called Axis of Resistance. While many around the world support Iran’s foreign policy and contort their brains to support or overlook the domestic policies, Iranians by and large do not favor support of proxies when they feel their needs are overlooked. This is a pattern in Iran’s history. The Shah was criticized for his wealth, but the current supreme leader is reported to oversee billions in assets. Why Iran finds itself where it does hinges on psychological, sociological, historical, anthropological and economic reasons.

I used to think I was quite courageous and a risk-taker, but when you spend the time to read, hear and watch Iranians, you empathize and understand why so many do not want to vote. And by they, it’s not just anybody. Before Ronaldo and Messi surpassed Ali Daei’s record, he was the leading goal scorer in international football. He is speaking out against voting. The frustration, anguish, and despair spills down to the streets.

The theocratic taste of the Islamic regime has tainted republics as the preferred form of government (if you examine the data across multiple sources, the full story is more nuanced — Possible Outcomes in Iran — What do Iranians Have Most Conviction About? — but the trendline shows why the regime itself has started to verbally criticize the exiled crown Prince, Reza Pahlavi. Without a doubt, few around the world wake up thinking “I want to live in a monarchy,” but given Iran’s 2500 years of monarchic rule (with some dynasties outlasting most empires), it’s no surprise that some Iranians inside and outside yearn for the days of a constitutional monarchy, which Iran adopted in its 1906 mashruteh (constitutional) revolution.

Now don’t get me wrong, I would never tell an Iranian what to say or think, let alone do (multiply that advice by a million with regards to Iranian women). I also do not criticize those who discourage others to vote. If there’s one thing Henry David Thoreau’s Walden taught me, it’s that civil disobedience is not just an act of defiance, but a right and privilege when few seem to exist.

By now, my hamshahri know that I do not pretend nor seek to speak on their behalf, but rather, try to present Iran and Iranians in the best light to khareji who are intrigued, interested, impressed by our nation.

Thus, if I reserve judgment, I encourage others to do so as well.