Gary Lewis

Professor of Practice at UN University. Senior advisor on environmental security. Ex-UN Resident Coordinator in Iran. UN career - 35 years - on all continents.

[DemocracyForumLondon @LondonDemocracy]

TDF Online Debate,

‘Water as weapon: The new age of resource conflict’

Forget ‘water as weapon’ — it’s a threat multiplier on steroids: Prof. Gary Lewis

@GaryLewisUN
#india #pakistan #Kashmir #Induswaterstreaty
https://t.co/2Q5d3GSx6H

[Gary Lewis @GaryLewisUN]

During my time in Iran, it always saddened me to witness this “imposed culture of mourning”. Black flags everywhere. So utterly alien and contrary to what I observed as the colourful, effervescent, culturally-empowered Iranian spirit.
Especially among young Iranians whom I found to be highly-educated, cosmopolitan, tech savvy, hyper-connected and outward looking.
If something is irrevocably changing, as @nazaninboniadi says, are we witnessing a renaissance in the Iranian identity?

[Nazanin Boniadi @NazaninBoniadi]

Something has irrevocably changed in Iranian society.

The ruling clerics’ imposed culture of mourning is being answered with acts of joy, defiance, and life.

Just as #MajidrezaRahnavard wished for his funeral before the regime mercilessly executed him.

[Gary Lewis @GaryLewisUN]

What a wonderful gesture.
May Parvaneh Khojandi Rad find peace. And so may her family. And so may the families of all those whose lives have been brutally ended during the crackdowns.
During my 5 years in Iran I learnt a number of things.
Among them, the simple but powerful phrase: “khastan tavanestan ast”.
I believe this to be true.

[Golineh Atai @GolinehAtai]

I am in awe. In awe of all the bereaved in Iran who have changed the way a nation grieves. Who dance and sing and cheer and chant political slogans in front of mosques where nothing but ritual prayer was allowed. This is Lahijan, Gilan Province. The daughters of Parvaneh Khojandi Rad, a mother shot in the head while protesting, do not wail but instead sing a song. A song by Iran’s pre-revolutionary singer Mahasti. As if to say that this death brings forth life…. Someone wrote: “This is the continuation of the lives of those whose bodies are buried, yet whose souls have been lent to the skin and flesh of the people”.
#IranMassacre

[Gary Lewis @GaryLewisUN]

1930s Germany was the most scientifically educated nation in Europe. Please explain what happened next.

[United Nations Geneva @UNGeneva]

“With guns you can kill terrorists. With education you can kill terrorism.”

-- UN Messenger of Peace & Nobel Peace Prize winner @Malala Yousafzai

#EducationForAll

[Gary Lewis @GaryLewisUN]

Another warning from science that we need dramatic policy resets on climate change.

We know what they are.

Climate change will make geopolitics less stable. Which will in turn undermine prospects for serious action on climate change.

Purposeful global leadership is needed.

[Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research PIK @PIK_Climate]

🆕Several Earth system components may be closer to destabilisation than previously thought. Crossing key temperature thresholds could trigger feedback loops, pushing the planet toward a “Hothouse Earth” trajectory. Study by @OregonState, @IIASAVienna, PIK. https://t.co/oAxgJrk5kp

[Gary Lewis @GaryLewisUN]

Thanks. I would welcome the opportunity.

There is something magical about the sounds and auburn light of a sunset in Shiraz, a city that has given so much to the world in terms of poetry and literature.

Who knows. Maybe one day.

I remain optimistic about Iran's future.

[Saeid Karimi @realsaeidkarimi]

@GaryLewisUN As someone who was born in Shiraz and my ancestors are all from that area, and also someone with great enthusiasm about history and politics, I would be honoured to give you a tour of the Persepolise in our free Iran !

[Gary Lewis @GaryLewisUN]

@dorikh @UN I can do what I can to advocate for this important doctrine.
But states in the Security Council must push for it.
And @UN leadership.
The most important thing is that it must gain visibility.
Hence the need to beat the drum.
#R2PforIran

[Gary Lewis @GaryLewisUN]

You are right.

R2P needs much wider publicity.

Including from @UN leadership itself.

Sovereignty should not become a licence to massacre.

Have we so quickly forgotten about this important step in humanity’s long march towards civilized international behaviour?

#R2PforIran‌

[Dorreh Khatibi-Hill @dorikh]

I don’t think we talk about #R2P enough! The responsibility to protect people; where states fail to protect their own citizens, it is the responsibility of other states, institutions to step in and protect people. The regime in Iran has massacred Iranians , and continues to execute prisoners in silence! Mass arrests continues! Where is the international community?
#R2PforIran

[Gary Lewis @GaryLewisUN]

We were privileged to see this sculpture so many times when we lived in Iran.
Plus more in Takht-i-Jamshid.
Despite what is happening now, I firmly believe in the power and ability of Iranians to recapture the elevated pedestal on which Persian civilization deserves to stand.

[Cyrus II of Persia @ShahanshahCyrus]

Shot of an ancient Iranian rock relief under a starry sky.

It shows the founder of the Sassanian dynasty, Ardeshir I, receiving the ring of kingship.

[Gary Lewis @GaryLewisUN]

My memories of having travelled half a dozen times to the Persepolis apadana and the Talht i Jamshid on the other side of the highway, fills me with confidence in the enduring civilizational contribution Persians have made to our world.

May they continue to do so.

#R2PforIran

[𝑨𝒓𝒕 🎨 @_ArtMuseum]

Holding Hands
— Wall in Persepolis, ancient Persia

[Gary Lewis @GaryLewisUN]

This news is appalling. We have seen the bloody consequences on our screens. Utterly unforgettable images of brutality.

Here is what the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine (adopted by the UN in 2005) says:

Pillar 1: “Each individual state has the responsibility to protect its population from […] crimes against humanity.”

Pillar 3: "If any state is ‘manifestly failing’ in its protection responsibilities, then states should take collective action to protect the population.”

#R2PforIran

@Omid_M
@omid9
@NazaninBoniadi
@Sima_Sabet
@BahmanKalbasi
@AlinejadMasih
@pouriazeraati
@bbclysedoucet

[Karim Sadjadpour @ksadjadpour]

BBC report on the weapons the Islamic Republic used against Iranians: “Ammunition of this nature is intended to defeat structures, vehicles and hardened targets, including lightly armoured personnel carriers…the consequences of such a strike on a human would be catastrophic."

[Gary Lewis @GaryLewisUN]

When a government physically harms its citizens and becomes their main predator, the principle of state sovereignty is significantly diminished.

Sovereignty should not become a licence to massacre.

In 2005, the UN General Assembly unanimously agreed to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), stating that governments must prevent atrocities and human rights abuses upon their own citizens, and that if they fail to do so, the international community has a duty to act.

#R2PforIran

@Omid_M
@omid9
@NazaninBoniadi
@Sima_Sabet
@BahmanKalbasi
@AlinejadMasih
@pouriazeraati

[Gary Lewis @GaryLewisUN]

I know there are worse things than this that have happened in Iran recently.
But I keep watching it, mesmerized, at seeing a state doing this to its people.

#R2PforIran

@Omid_M
@omid9
@mamadporii
@NazaninBoniadi
@Sima_Sabet
@BahmanKalbasi
@AlinejadMasih
@pouriazeraati

[Visegrád 24 @visegrad24]

New videos from Iran show that the security forces didn’t just murder anti-regime protesters with live fire but also by running them over with vehicles.

The video is from the city of Ardabil

[Gary Lewis @GaryLewisUN]

#R2PforIran‌

[Omid Memarian @Omid_M]

The civil society figures who signed this letter accusing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei of “organized crimes against humanity” are not outsiders or armchair critics. Many have spent years behind bars for their activism. Some remain imprisoned today. Others still live inside #Iran, fully aware of what such defiance can bring. A few in exile.

Figures like Abolfazl Ghadyani and Professor Madani — who have already paid a heavy personal price — are joined by writers, lawyers, academics, artists, and former political prisoners who understand exactly what is at stake. Their decision to speak now is not symbolic. It is courageous.

This letter openly calls for accountability at the very top — and for an end to what they describe as an “inhumane system in power.”

For decades, the Islamic Republic sought to rule through fear, repression, and terror. That grip is slipping at the highest speed. Legitimacy has been dramatically eroded after rounds of protests and violence. And voices the government has tried so much to force into isolation, still speak collectively, despite the risks.

What makes this moment extraordinary is not only the severity of the charge — crimes against humanity — but who is making it: people who have endured prison, torture, surveillance, exile, and loss, and who are still choosing to stand publicly with their society.

In Iran today, courage is not abstract — from the streets to prisons. Those who signed this letter carry the same aspirations that have driven millions into the streets: dignity, equality, accountability, and a just, prosperous and democratic future. After so much bloodshed, that demand for change is only growing harder to silence. #IranMassacre

[Gary Lewis @GaryLewisUN]

#R2PforIran‌

[Masih Alinejad 🏳️ @AlinejadMasih]

Hollywood spends hundreds of millions creating heroes.
I dare you to look here. 👇
This is a real hero: an Iranian man carrying a wounded protester on his shoulders after the IRGC shot him. He saved multiple lives under live fire in Mashhad. His video went viral.
They later killed him with a bullet to the throat while he was rescuing another person.💔 talk about #IranMassacre.

[Kaja Kallas @kajakallas]

Repression cannot go unanswered.

EU Foreign Ministers just took the decisive step of designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation.

Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise.

[Afghan Times @AfghanTimes7]

🇦🇫 Women Protest in Kabul Against Ban on Education

A group of women in Kabul marched to Balkh University to demand the reversal of the ban on women’s education in Afghanistan.

In response, they were reportedly beaten and forcibly dispersed by authorities.

According to sources received by Afghan Times, some of the families of these girls have gone missing.

[Omid Memarian @Omid_M]

EU designates Iran’s IRGC as a terrorist group — a devastating blow to a regime that depends on the Guards for power and profit. This signals more than policy change — it’s a bet on the regime’s decline and a warning shot about what may come next. #Iran https://t.co/xCtgYE5SsR

[Gary Lewis @GaryLewisUN]

.@omid9 - When a government physically harms its citizens and becomes their main predator, the principle of state sovereignty is significantly diminished.

Sovereignty should not become a licence to massacre.

In 2005, the UN General Assembly unanimously agreed to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), stating that governments must prevent atrocities and human rights abuses upon their own citizens, and that if they fail to do so, the international community has a duty to act.

#R2PforIran

[Omid Djalili @omid9]

He said this. @volker_turk the @UN commissioner for Human Rights.

After the regime slaughtered tens of thousands of their own people. The evidence is out there. It’s even front page of @guardian and they’ve been silent about it.

From the same institution that appointed The Islamic Republic of Iran chair the UN Human Rights Council Social Forum in May 2023, he actually says:

“I appeal to Iran’s top leadership to initiate dialogue and reforms, and to put the rights and needs of their people first.”

Yes. That’ll definitely do the trick.

#IranMassacre