CMV: The Iranian regime is evil

This is my first post in this sub, so I apologize if I don't quite follow the rules. I am Iranian and I think the current government in power is evil, and I wish it would be overthrown. There are obviously a lot of problems with the current government, but one for me in particular stands out. Its treatment of women, and specifically the mandatory hijab. <br><br>Every woman in Iran is forced to wear the hijab. No exceptions. If you disobey, you will be arrested. The regime has even gone so far as to make sure that even foreign women wear the hijab in Iran. Its completely ridiculous, and the regime is literally so concerned with Iranian women's bodies that it doesn't even matter if the woman is Iranian or not.<br><br>The regime is very misogynistic. For example, the legal "age of majority" is 9 years old for girls and 15 for boys. In addition, the punishment for adultery(a crime for women) ranges from imprisonment to flogging or even execution. Although it is worth noting some of the more disgusting punishments haven't been used very much in recent years. <br><br>The government is also very homophobic, and Iran has the worlds highest rate of sex changes, because the government allows gay men who claim they want to be women to get a free sex change. No actual psychiatric checks are done. As long as you claim you want to be a woman, you qualify, and many gay Iranian men are forced to live as trans women just to allow them to live somewhat freely. <br><br>Another thing that is prevalent is honor killings. The government does basically nothing to stop honor killings until after they have been committed. There have been actual instances of women being killed for wearing too much make up or getting a bad haircut. The regime has no problem with this, because it is part of its "values". <br><br>Another thing that happens is that the regime is actually fairly modern in some ways. It allows for women's education at the university level, and many women in Iran are very well educated. However, this is not as a sign of feminism or anything, but partly as a way to keep women in their place. The regime wants Iranian women to be educated, but only so that they can marry an educated man. It does not want women to pursue careers or independent lives. And most importantly, when women do want to pursue careers and succeed and become accomplished in society, the regime still forces them to wear the hijab. The government does not want women who may have independent thoughts or be outspoken or ambitious to not be covered up, lest they give strange ideas to other women. <br><br>In contrast, there are many opposition groups in Iran who for various reasons believe that the current government is the "lesser evil" than any opposition groups. Some of these groups genuinely believe this and others are simply paid by the Iranian government. From what I have seen, the people who think this is the case are often just very uninformed about Iran or are involved in the "woke" movement. I specifically mention the "woke" movement here because many people who are part of this movement will literally support any authoritarian government as long as it claims to be anti-imperialist and has a bad relationship with the US. (Examples of this include North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, Palestine, etc)<br><br>A good example of this is an idiot from the subreddit r/TrueOffMyChest who literally posted the following: <br><br>"This may be controversial, but the threat of "terrorism" and "Islamic fundamentalism" are mostly a lie/lie to most Americans. For the sake of brevity, I'll just be talking about Iran. <br><br>Iran is not an Islamic fundamentalist state. Its leaders are secular, its president is secular, most of its citizens are secular. It has one of the highest rates of education in the world, with about 90% of the citizenry literate. <br><br>On the other hand, Saudi Arabia is largely controlled by Wahhabi Muslim extremists who believe that anything "modern" is evil and anyone who rejects their version of Islam should be killed. Saudi Arabia is an authoritarian state that doesn't let women drive or vote (Iran allows both), and the only country in the world where women are not allowed to leave the house without a male chaperone. <br><br>Yet, the US hates Iran and is good friends with Saudi Arabia. The US never invaded Saudi Arabia to "protect women" and "defend democracy", but has considered doing so to Iran on numerous occasions. <br><br>The reason is oil. Iran has rule that only state-run companies can extract oil from its soil. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, has huge reserves of oil that are owned and extracted by US companies. <br><br>So the US bullies Iran and props up Saudi Arabia. <br><br>Yet most Americans think Iran is the authoritarian state and Saudi Arabia is the "moderate" stable reliable ally. <br><br>Fuck you, fuck the media, and fuck neoliberal capitalism.<br><br>Edit: Thanks for the gold, anon" <br><br>This is a very good example of what I am talking about. "Iran is not an Islamic fundamentalist state. Its leaders are secular, its president is secular, most of its citizens are secular." No, the leaders are not secular, and there is no evidence for saying "most citizens are secular". In Iran, the president must be approved of by a supermajority of the "Guardian Council", which is composed of 6 people appointed by the Supreme Leader and 6 appointed by the Chief Justice. The Supreme Leader is an unelected cleric who is in charge for life, and the Chief Justice is also appointed by the Supreme Leader. <br><br>Another part of the post that is completely ridiculous is: "Iran has one of the highest rates of education in the world, with about 90% of the citizenry literate. <br><br>On the other hand, Saudi Arabia is largely controlled by Wahhabi Muslim extremists who believe that anything "modern" is evil and anyone who rejects their version of Islam should be killed. Saudi Arabia is an authoritarian state that doesn't let women drive or vote (Iran allows both), and the only country in the world where women are not allowed to leave the house without a male chaperone." <br><br>The fact that women in Iran may have a "right" legally to do something does not mean they are treated equally. Women are treated as second-class citizens in Iran and are often expected by the government to stay home and be housewives and raise children. Women in Iran are expected(and often forced) to dedicate their lives to serving a man, rather than being independent. The regime also has an affirmative action policy for men in some careers, when it comes to promotions. For example, in Iran a woman can become a lawyer and work her way up the ranks but if she is equally qualified as a man she will lose the promotion because the regime views men as being more important than women in the workplace. <br><br>Saudi Arabia is an authoritarian state, that's true, but it being an authoritarian state doesn't mean the Iranian government is not also an authoritarian state. Saudi Arabia is horrible and also very sexist and misogynistic, I am not arguing otherwise. Its also very homophobic, sexist, and racist. But the fact that Saudi Arabia is an evil government doesn't mean Iran isn't also.<br><br>Also, the fact that the Iranian regime is somewhat modern in its policies means nothing. The regime sees value in women being educated and thus it allows them to be educated, but that doesn't mean women have equal legal or social rights. Even in the universities, there are affirmative action policies for men and women are often discriminated against on a large scale. <br><br>And lastly, the regime being anti-imperialist and nationalistic doesn't mean it is the "lesser evil". Just because the regime opposes US interests means nothing to most Iranian citizens. Most Iranian citizens want the regime to be overthrown, not to pursue nationalistic goals. <br><br>TL;DR: The Iranian regime is evil because it treats women as second-class citizens and its goals involve pursuing misogyny and homophobia.<br><br>Edit: I've never seen my post get so many replies, so I will try to respond to as many as I can. Thank you for your interest.