Iran war: Cheerleaders of foreign bombs do not have Iranian interests at heart

Twenty years ago, I watched Saddam Hussein’s execution on satellite TV. I have never forgotten that moment. My mother sat on the sofa. My father and I stood. The three of us stared at the screen, frozen. 

Saddam was the demon of my childhood and my parents’ young adulthood. The former Iraqi leader bombed us for eight years. We could hardly believe he would finally face justice.

But none of us celebrated. We did not laugh, dance or cheer. The execution was barely shown – just a rope being placed around his neck – but it was still horrifying to watch another human being die. 

We were stunned. We never spoke about it afterwards.

I think about that moment whenever I see how some “pro-democracy” activists in the West celebrate violent deaths today.

Western media know Masih Alinejad as a campaigner for women’s freedom in Iran, the face of the movement against compulsory hijabs. But they never mention another movement she has celebrated.

In January 2020, when the US assassinated General Qassem Soleimani and militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Iraq, Alinejad tweeted that she was dancing. Afterwards, she and her followers celebrated what became known as the “Cutlet Movement” on social media. Every time the US or Israel assassinated Iranian commanders or officials, they danced, handed out sweets, drank alcohol, and referred to the victims as “cutlet” as referred to here and here.

Cutlet is an Iranian dish made from minced meat, then fried. They used this term for human beings whose bodies were torn apart and burned in American and Israeli bombings; dehumanisation as a celebration. And dehumanisation is not just offensive – it is the first step towards mass violence.

Double standard

Western media have repeatedly invited Alinejad to tell them why war with Iran is good. They never ask about the dancing. They never ask about the “cutlet movement'”.

The same double standard applies to Persian-language satellite channels based in Britain: Manoto and Iran International. For years, they have sold nostalgia for the Pahlavi era. 

Their message is simple: everything was perfect, the Iranian people were foolish, they did not appreciate their good fortune, and they made a mistake by having a revolution.

Three years ago, Manoto aired a documentary about Parviz Sabeti, a former senior official of the Savak, the shah’s notorious secret police responsible for widespread torture and political repression. The documentary presented his perspective at length, without substantive challenge. 

Whatever our disagreements with our own leaders, foreigners have no right to interfere in our internal affairs

Such coverage dismisses the hundreds killed by Savak or during the protests before the revolution as exaggeration. But when it comes to more recent protests in Iran, the same channels throw out random numbers – 30,000, 40,000, 50,000 allegedly killed – yet they never provide a list of names. The Iranian government puts the figure at just over 3,000.

On Iran International, a presenter laughed while calling for the bombing of the Grand Mosalla of Tehran. He did not specify whether he meant when the building was full – its capacity is 65,000 worshippers – or empty. It did not seem to matter. Eight months later, Israel bombed the Mosalla.

For the past three months, Iranians across the country have gathered in main squares in an effort to prevent another foreign-backed coup.

These channels’ response? On Manoto, a caller said that the people gathering in the squares had tried their patience. The presenter replied: “You’re right – if I were in Iran, I would have been arrested 10 times, because I would drive my car over them.” Then the same caller begged Netanyahu to bomb Iran’s infrastructure and national television (IRIB).

The channel aired all of this without any objection or condemnation from the host.

Then came Kerman. In Azadi Square, shots were fired at one of those peaceful gatherings. Two men and a child were injured. When channels based in London broadcast statements – from both callers and the host – calling for running over Iranian crowds and bombing Iran’s infrastructure without condemnation, they bear responsibility for the climate of violence that follows.

Britain arrests hundreds of its own citizens for holding signs opposing genocide in Palestine, but promoting violence against Iranians in Persian is apparently fine.

The real line

In the context of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, Yasmine Pahlavi, the wife of Reza Pahlavi, the late shah’s son, posted a slogan on Instagram that drew sharp criticism. The same slogan reappeared during the violent protests this past January: “Death to the three corrupt: the cleric, the leftist, the mojahed.” 

I think this slogan is incomplete. You need to make it much, much longer – long enough to include me.

I come from a non-religious, non-traditional family. I was educated in the West. By the logic of this slogan, I would be safe – because I am neither a cleric, nor a leftist, nor a mojahed.

But in January 2020, when Trump threatened to bomb 52 Iranian cultural sites, my blood boiled. I wanted to fight alongside my country’s armed forces – including the Revolutionary Guards – to defend Iran. 

When the US and Israel bombed Tehran, I did not flee. Here’s why

Read More »

When I saw the news of former President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter crash – a man whose politics I rejected – I did not dance. I felt stressed. I thought: he was the president. What will happen to Iran now? 

When news came of the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, I did not dance. I thought: he was Iranian. No foreigner had the right to assassinate him. Whatever our disagreements with our own leaders, foreigners have no right to interfere in our internal affairs.

So yes, make your death list longer. Include me. You have spent years promising freedom, democracy and human rights. In the last few years, the mask has dropped. Now you talk openly about killing Iranians. You mock their gatherings. You demand that their cities be bombed.

I believe I can reach an understanding with my fellow Iranians from religious and traditional backgrounds. They have fought in three wars, putting their lives on the line to defend our country and people like me. We share the most important thing of all: a love for Iran. That is a foundation for dialogue.

But with the professional cheerleaders for foreign bombs, those who dance over bodies shredded into pieces and call the dead “cutlet”, I share nothing. 

So please, add me to the list you keep chanting. Make your death list longer until it includes every Iranian who refused to dance at the deaths of their own countrymen.

Because that is the real line: not secular versus religious, not left versus right, not monarchist versus republican. The real line is between those who still feel horror at watching a rope go around a human neck – even an enemy’s – and those who dance and call the dead “cutlet”.

I know which side I am on. And I am not afraid to say it.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.