'You can't save your homeland with enemy tanks': Iranian opposition figures rally against Israel's war

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah of Iran, has had a strong presence on English-language mainstream news networks since Israel began its war with Iran and has openly supported Israel's attacks in his home country. However, a voice that has been heard less is that of the Iranian regime's opponents, who also strongly oppose Israel.

Pahlavi, who left Iran in 1979 after the fall of his father's US-backed dictatorial regime, has been a major supporter of Israel over the past years. He recently called for an expansion of attacks on Iran, describing it as a "golden opportunity."

Although he is not the only opponent of the Iranian regime who holds this view, many other opposition figures disagree and demand that Israel's attacks be stopped not only in Iran but also in Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria.

"You cannot try to save your homeland by standing behind enemy tanks," said Mehdi Aminzadeh, an Iranian opposition political analyst living in exile in the United States.

"We cannot say that we need help from Israeli tanks and planes to destroy the Islamic Republic," he added.

Aminzadeh is not alone in holding this view. Many Iranian opposition political activists, inside and outside the country, expressed similar sentiments.

Many of them pointedly reject Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim on the first day of the war that "Israel's fight is not with you, the great people of Iran."

Elahe Ejbari, a women's rights activist and opposition figure living in Germany, wrote in response to Netanyahu's remarks on X: "The country that brought that disaster to Gaza is going to help Iran!?"

"At the beginning of the Gaza war, he [Netanyahu] said they were at war with Hamas, not with ordinary people. Today, he said the same thing to the Iranian people. We are no different from those people," she added.

Fatemeh Haghighatjou, a former member of parliament who joined opposition groups in recent years and now lives in the US, also condemned Israel's attacks.

She said that Israel's goal is not limited to Iran's nuclear and missile programs, and that it threatens Iran's territorial integrity.

"What Benjamin Netanyahu says that their goal is the Iranian regime and not the people is nothing more than a lie. Israel's goal is [destroying] the territorial integrity of Iran," Haghighatjou said.

From inside Iran, oppositional voices have also quickly and loudly echoed this point. 

Sadegh Zibakalam, an emeritus professor who has been repeatedly taken to court and sentenced to prison for criticising the government, is also among those who strongly oppose Israel's involvement in the fight against the Iranian regime.

"I am truly surprised that Netanyahu, Trump, or Reza Pahlavi expect [people like] me to support Israel and stand against the regime under these circumstances. Which opposition figure has spoken and written against the regime as much as I have? But how can I join the enemy in this situation?" Zibakalam, who lives in Tehran, asked.

Meanwhile, a group of Iranians criticised those who remained silent about the war that Israel began against Iran and failed to condemn actions that violate international law.

Most of this criticism was directed at Shirin Ebadi and Narges Mohammadi, two Nobel Peace Prize laureates from Iran who are widely portrayed in mainstream media as staunch opponents of the Islamic Republic.

Mehrdad Farahmand, an Iranian-British Middle East analyst, commented on their silence: "The reason for the silence of Narges Mohammadi and Shirin Ebadi is that they don't want to upset Israel and its supporters, so they can become puppet presidents in the ashes that Israel wants to leave behind in Iran."

Bahman Amouee, a journalist in Iran who spent years in prison for opposing the regime, also criticised the two on X: "Just as Western countries, over the past two years, have damaged the meaning of human rights and democracy for Israel's sake, the [Iranian] Nobel Peace Prize winners have done the same. Don't be afraid, they won't take back the money you've received. You can also say a word."