A Candle for Iran’s Freedom – Why the World Cannot Afford Silence

Dr. Anabel Ternès von Hattburg

Anabel Pic — Dr. Anabel Ternès von Hattburg

On 6 September, I was meant to be in Brussels, standing beneath the Atomium among tens of thousands of Iranians and their supporters. They had travelled from across Europe to call for freedom in their homeland, demanding an end to executions, oppression, and decades of failed Western appeasement. Instead, illness kept me in Frankfurt.

So I lit a candle in the Frauenfriedenskirche, the Women’s Peace Church. Built after the First World War, it embodies the truth that peace is never given – it is built, defended, and carried forward, often by women. That single flame became my way of standing with those who marched in Brussels – a symbol of resistance, courage, and unbroken hope.

The message from Brussels

The rally at the Atomium was more than a demonstration. It was a referendum of dignity. Tens of thousands declared with clarity that the solution to Iran’s crisis is neither foreign war nor Western accommodation, but what Maryam Rajavi, the elected president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), calls the “third option”: regime change by the Iranian people and their organised resistance.

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Rajavi’s words rang like a warning bell: “The answer to the Iranian crisis is the overthrow of the entire religious tyranny. The Iranian people have never been more ready. Delay means war – and that must never be allowed to happen.”

This was not rhetoric in the abstract. The urgency is written in blood: in August alone, 170 people were executed in Iran. The country is a volcano on the verge of eruption, and every day of hesitation costs lives.

International solidarity – and shame

The Brussels rally drew not only Iranians but international leaders with the courage to speak plainly.

Mike Pence, former US vice president, called the MEK “a relentless freedom movement” and reminded the world of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners. “You have given voice to the voiceless and hope to millions,” he said. His demand to Europe was blunt: “The time of hesitation is over. The time to act is now.”
Guy Verhofstadt, former Belgian prime minister, denounced decades of failed appeasement: “This regime’s survival proves the failure of our policy of accommodation. We need a new strategy: sanctions, pressure on financial lifelines, and engagement with the democratic opposition.”
John Bercow, former Speaker of the British House of Commons, was even sharper: “The claim that there is no alternative to the mullahs is an insult to the Iranian people. The alternative is freedom.”
Patrick Kennedy, former US congressman, praised the resilience of the MEK: “Year after year they have been imprisoned, tortured, executed – yet they rise again. Enough appeasement. Accountability is overdue.”
Dr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras, former vice-president of the European Parliament and himself a survivor of a regime-sponsored assassination attempt, described the rally as “a living referendum for freedom and dignity.”

This chorus of voices contrasted starkly with the hesitancy of many Western governments, still trapped in the illusion that time, dialogue, or commercial ties might moderate Tehran. The result has been decades of delay, during which Iran’s regime executed, imprisoned, and silenced thousands – while racing towards nuclear weapons capability.

A movement with history

The timing of the Brussels rally was not accidental. It marked the 60th anniversary of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the backbone of the NCRI. From its inception, the MEK opposed tyranny – first the Shah’s dictatorship, then the theocracy that replaced it.

Despite massacres, prisons, and relentless defamation, the movement has survived, grown, and today offers the only credible, democratic alternative. As Rajavi reminded the world: “The Shah fell. The mullahs will fall too. For sixty years the MEK has risen from the ashes again and again. Today, it embodies the only independent alternative that carries forward the 120-year struggle of the Iranian people for freedom.”

The responsibility of the West

The question is no longer whether Iran will change – it is how long the West will avert its gaze. Every candle lit, every march held, every banner raised by Iranians is a demand that the international community stop pretending neutrality is an option.

Recognising the NCRI and Rajavi’s 10-point plan is not interference – it is aligning with the only democratic alternative to dictatorship. Designating the IRGC as a terrorist organisation is not symbolic – it is a measure that could cut off the regime’s capacity for repression and regional aggression. Enforcing UN Security Council resolutions on Iran’s nuclear programme is not optional – it is vital for global security.

To delay further is not caution. It is complicity.

From Brussels to Frankfurt

As chants echoed in Brussels, my candle burned in Frankfurt. In that silence I was reminded that resistance takes many forms – mass protest, political leadership, and sometimes the quiet persistence of light in the darkness.

Iran’s fight for freedom is not a distant issue. It is a test of whether the international community still believes in the principles it claims to defend.

Hope knows no borders. One day soon, Iranians will celebrate the fall of tyranny. And when that day comes, history will remember both the crowds in Brussels and the solitary flames that burned across the world, all united in one truth: freedom will prevail.

08-09-2025

Dr. Anabel Ternès von Hattburg : A futurist, TEDx Speaker, Managing Director of the SRH Institute for Innovation and Sustainability Management, entrepreneur, bestseller author, journalist, podcaster, editor of magazines, radio and TV host, and correspondent of MAHABAHU for the EU

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