If you’ve ever wondered why Iranians have been suffering for nearly half a century, it’s not just because of recent events. For 47 years, the Iranian people have been trapped under a corrupt regime. It’s not only about the brutal crackdowns you see on the news today, where over 50,000 people have been slaughtered in the streets, but about a decades-long system of oppression. For nearly five decades, the economy has collapsed, the currency has lost its value, and ordinary people can barely survive. For those of us who grew up there, like me, being a teenager meant living in fear, arrested simply for attending a birthday party and constantly harassed by the morality police. The truth is, the people of Iran can’t even enjoy simple moments, music, dancing, relationships, without fear. Every day, they live without safety, without basic dignity, under a government that crushes every dream.