FREEDOM (while hoping my friends stay safe)

This deserves to become one of the iconic images of human history, alongside the Tank Man of Tiananmen Square and so forth.

Here’s Sharifi Zarchi, a computer engineering professor at Sharif University in Tehran, posting on Twitter/X: “Ali Khamenei is not my leader.”

Do you understand the balls of steel this takes? If Professor Zarchi can do this—if hundreds of thousands of young Iranians can take to the streets even while the IRGC and the Basij fire live rounds at them—then I can certainly handle people yelling me on this blog!

I’m in awe of the Iranian people’s courage, and hope I’d have similar courage in their shoes.

I was also enraged this week at the failure of much of the rest of the world to help, to express solidarity, or even to pay much attention to the Iranian’s people plight (though maybe that’s finally changing this weekend).

I’ve actually been working on a CS project with a student in Tehran, who’s kind and sweet and probably more Zionist than I am. Because of the Internet blackout, I haven’t heard from him in days. I pray that he’s safe. I pray that all my friends and colleagues in Iran, and their family members, stay safe and stay strong.

If any Iranian Shtetl-Optimized reader manages to get onto the Internet, and would like to share an update—anonymously if desired, of course—we’d all be obliged.

May the Iranian people be free from tyranny soon.