Mr. António Guterres,
We, Iranians and friends of Iran, write with profound pain and concern regarding your message congratulating the authorities of the Islamic Republic on the occasion of 22 Bahman.
This day is not a “national celebration” for the people of Iran. It marks the establishment of a political system that, for forty-seven years, has ruled through executions, prisons, discrimination against women, suppression of free speech, and the violent crushing of peaceful protests. For countless families it is the anniversary of loss—of children killed in the streets, of loved ones executed in secret, of lives destroyed in the name of ideology.
By congratulating the president of the Islamic Republic, whose government is directly responsible for ongoing killings and mass imprisonment, the United Nations has unintentionally aligned itself with the oppressor rather than the oppressed. Such a message ignores the voices of millions of Iranians who have repeatedly declared—at great personal cost—that this government does not represent them.
The United Nations was founded to defend human dignity, not to normalize those who violate it. When diplomatic protocol erases the suffering of a people, it becomes complicity. The mothers of the executed, the prisoners still awaiting verdicts, the young people shot in the streets—none of them were reflected in your words.
We therefore respectfully but firmly ask:
- That you issue a public apology to the people of Iran for describing this day as a celebration belonging to the nation.
- That future communications distinguish clearly between the Iranian people and the authorities who rule without their consent.
- That the United Nations should place the protection of human rights above diplomatic ritual and stand openly with the victims of state violence in Iran.
The legitimacy of the UN rests on its moral credibility. The Iranian people do not seek congratulations for their jailers; they seek solidarity with their struggle for life, freedom, and dignity.
History will remember who stood with the victims and who chose the comfort of protocol. We ask you to stand on the right side of that history.
