20 years ago on August 23, 1994, I landed in Washington, DC, after a significant odyssey that involved illegal border crossing on foot from Iran into Turkey, a brief encounter with the Turkish police, and a final flight from Istanbul to Vienna and then to the US. My picture taken in Ankara for my passport tells a tale of a fatigued, distressed, and emotionally drained teenager who had to risk his life to flee from educational discrimination leveled against him in his own Homeland -- the Islamic Republic of Iran. While 20 years later, I have managed to obtain an education and find comfort and freedom, my heart still aches for the hundreds of thousands of dissidents in Iran who are subjected to discrimination, torture, harassment, and violation of their inalienable rights. I will work tirelessly to shed light on their struggles and expose the injustices that are ever accelerating in Iran. My ardent hope is the realization of that day on which the intellectuals, dissidents, and minorities are released from Irans prisons and justice is allowed to rein.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 16:40:19 +0000
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