Tribute to Fallen Resistance Leaders and a Warning Against Monarchical Revival
In a defiant statement from Tehran’s Evin Prison, five women political prisoners— Shiva Esmaili, Zahra Safaei, Forough Taghipour, Marzieh Farsi, and Elaheh Fouladi — marked the anniversary of February 8, 1982, while forcefully rejecting any attempt to restore monarchical rule in Iran.
The terrorist IRGC attack on February 8, 1982, left two senior opposition leaders and 18 of their companions dead after a raid on their residence.
Honoring a Legacy of Sacrifice
Commemorating the anniversary, the prisoners described the killings as a defining act of resistance whose impact extended far beyond that day. The statement portrays their deaths as a catalyst that “ignited hope and resistance in the generations that followed.”
Linking past and present, the women write that “from their sacrifice rose new generations of rebellious youth,” connecting the events of 1982 to today’s protest movement and honoring women and young demonstrators killed in recent crackdowns.
“Another Dictatorship Will Not Replace This One”
The statement then shifts sharply to current political tensions, warning against what the prisoners describe as organized efforts to rehabilitate the former monarchy amid nationwide unrest.
“At the height of the people’s democratic uprising,” they write, “another thief has appeared, seeking to exhume the monarchy from its grave and impose it on the nation.”
Arguing that Iranian society has already endured both royal and clerical authoritarianism, the prisoners state: “A people who have lived through a century of dictatorship — first the Shah, then the mullahs — will not surrender to the dictatorship of a ‘prince’ or any other autocrat.”
Echoing protest chants heard in the streets, they add:
“Down with the oppressor — be it the Shah or the (mullahs’ supreme) Leader.”
“The era of monarchy is over,” the statement declares. “And the era of clerical rule is nearing its end.”
Call for a Democratic Republic
The prisoners conclude by reaffirming support for anti–death penalty campaigns and demanding the immediate release of all detainees arrested during recent nationwide protests. The statement closes with a clear political demand:
“Long live a democratic republic.”
