Iran International:

Negar Mojtahedi 

Stanford professor and historian Abbas Milani says the Islamic Republic's real opposition is not abroad but inside the country: women walking unveiled, teachers refusing propaganda, and artists reimagining history.

Milani told Eye for Iran podcast that Iranian women are at the heart of today’s opposition.

“The Iranian woman who decides to walk in the streets of Tehran, Shiraz, Bandar Abbas, without a veil… that’s the most potent opposition to this regime,” he said.

Despite intensified crackdowns, women continue to defy compulsory hijab laws.

Public opinion surveys point in the same direction. A poll conducted last summer involving more than 77,000 people found that a majority reject the Islamic Republic and favor either regime change or a structural transition.

Milani said the most authentic expressions of opposition are found in cultural acts, not exile politics.

“It is the manifesto of the future of Iran,” he said.

Milani highlighted a recent production at Stanford University by acclaimed playwright Bahram Beyzaie, a reinterpretation of the revolution through the eyes of women. The play drew widespread interest inside Iran, with audiences requesting online access, while receiving little notice outside.

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