TORONTO - More than thirty days have passed since the third war imposed on Iran, and the third Sacred Defense is still ongoing. Days that were not only a difficult test for the people inside Iran, but also a field for measuring loyalties and exposing the true faces of many claimants abroad.

What we have seen in this month is the narrative of a quiet but decisive victory: the victory of the awakened global conscience over media deception.

The defeat of the propaganda siege

In the early days of the war, a huge wave of lies and psychological indoctrination from counter-revolutionary news networks and media affiliated with Zionism had saturated the atmosphere. But Iranians abroad, empty-handed but with a steely will, were gradually able to overcome these noisy media horns. They showed that the battle of narratives can be fought with truth and unity.

The result of this collective effort was the breaking of the front of lies and the retreat of a small number of Persian-speaking traitors from the public streets of the world. The proud flag of Iran once again flew not on the sidelines, but in the center of the squares of the world's major cities.

The connection between the global south and the free people of the world and Iran

One of the most amazing developments of the last thirty days has been the formation of a deep and organic connection between the citizens of the global south, the free people of the West who are against the war, and the Iranians who defend the homeland. Every week, anti-war demonstrations in different cities around the world are not only more colorful, but also more passionate and coherent.

Citizens of Iran-Shahr in Pakistan, Iraq, Tajikistan, Turkey, and many other countries created scenes of solidarity that were surprising even to experienced observers. From public financial donations to holding rituals of spiritual support, everything shows that these nations correctly understand the nature of the imperialist-imposed war.

European and American citizens confront Pahlavi agents

In Paris, London, Geneva, Toronto, New York and Los Angeles, numerous videos have been released of white European and American citizens clashing with Persian-speaking Zionists. Many of these native citizens are not only aware of the Pahlavi’s’ dark record, but have also defended Iran and its people, sometimes even before many Iranians. This transnational solidarity is one of the strategic failures of the anti-Iranian lobbies.

Toronto, the first week of the war: A multitude of Iranian flags were waving in the crowd. Slogans that seemed to have come straight from the heart of Revolution Square in Iran. There was no fear of declaring loyalty to Iran and its martyrs.

London, Week 2: Against the most extreme right-wing forces supporting Pahlavi and Israel, a group of Iranians steadfastly held up the Iranian flag. Even some British citizens stood up in support of Iran.

Paris, Week 3: Iranians living in France, placed pictures of Dr. Mossadegh next to those of Iranian martyrs in the Ramadan War; a symbolic link between the ideal of historical nationalism and contemporary resistance. This symbolic genius dealt a fatal blow to the narrative of separation between the two discourses.

USA, Week 4: Millions of people across the United States took to the streets, shouting against Trump and the political regime that started the war, and raised the Iranian flag in various American cities from New York to Los Angeles.

Narrative of an anti-war activist in Canada

As an anti-war activist living in Canada, I have personally witnessed scenes that I consider it my historical duty to record and narrate:

I saw an Algerian citizen waving the Iranian flag with all her being in front of the Persian speaking Zionists, so overwhelmed with emotion that it was as if she had been a citizen of Iran her whole life.

I saw an anti-Zionist Jewish Canadian boy shouting: “Long live Iran! In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Iranians.” He redefined the true meaning of being an Iranian, beyond any religion or race.

I saw political prisoners of the 1980s, unveiled girls, and leftist activists alongside veiled women, devout Muslims, Canadians, and citizens of the global south, all under the Iranian flag, saying, "Long Live the Resistance," and after two years of genocide in Gaza, they were proud and pleased with Iran's victories.

I have seen a seventy-year-old Canadian doctor who was looking for a way to travel to Iran and help the wounded and he had no fear of American bombs and missiles of the child-killing regime.

I have seen Iranian girls and boys raised in Canada who, since the first day of the war, boots have not left their feet, come to demonstrations in combat uniforms and spend their entire week planning, writing speeches, writing letters to local officials and coordinating with anti-war organizations across the globe. These second and third generations of immigrants are a new honor for Iran.

I have seen Iranians who left their glamorous Western lives in the very first week of the war and returned to Iran with a backpack just to be in Iran during its sacred defense.

I have seen Canadian, American and Swedish journalists who reached the Turkish border earlier than many Iranians so that they could report to the world about Iran and its glorious resistance, and they had no fear of bombing or war zones.

Greater Iran and passionate non-Farsi speaker citizens 

Today, greater Iran has citizens in Pakistan, Iraq, India, Japan, Canada, Europe and America who do not speak Farsi, who may have never seen Iran up close, but who defend Iran more Iranian than many Persian speakers.

In contrast, that group of Persian speakers who spent all their energy in these months helping the Israeli lobby’s propaganda against Iran, these days have been overcome by a sense of despair and defeat. They are angry with the native citizens of their host countries; because at work, at university and on the street, they experience reproachful looks and even outright expressions of disgust. The host society understands betrayal of the homeland even in a foreign language.

Conclusion: An unbreakable bond

As I wrote in an article after the Twelve-Day War, our bond with Iran is unbreakable. This bond is born from the blood of martyrs, from ancient history, from the sharing of suffering and hope, and from the love for a land that can never be replaced.

Our determination is firm, our steps are steady, and our faith in Iran's victory is unwavering.

We have experienced hardships before, and this time too, our Iran will triumph with the courageous resistance of its children.

The divine tradition is ongoing, and the guiding comrade breathes his power into the souls and souls of those who resist, saying that “resistance is creation’’.

As long as the world endures, poets will write, writers will tell and singers will raise their voices about the epic unfolding in these days; Of a people standing firm amid the storm of time, unbent, unbroken. These days will not only live in books; they will echo in voices, flow through songs and in the memory of the world, shine forever like a sacred wound and an enduring light. 

We hold our heads high and proudly defend our homeland, the land of our fathers and ancestors.

Long live Iran!

Reza Namdari is Iranian Canadian anti-war activist