ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Abdullah Mohtadi is the secretary general of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan and a longtime leader of the Kurdish resistance movement in Iran. He comes from a politically active family — his father was a minister in the short-lived Kurdish Republic of Mahabad and later a theology professor in Tehran. Mohtadi became politically active as a university student and co-founded Komala in 1969. When Ayatollah Khomeini launched a military assault against the Kurds in 1979, Mohtadi emerged as a key leader of the Kurdish resistance. He has played a significant role in forming coalitions among Kurds and broader Iranian opposition groups.

I write as a Kurdish opposition leader who has spent a lifetime standing up against the repression, corruption and cruelty of the Islamic Republic’s regime in Iran. Today, the country stands at a point of no return.

Across the country, Iranians of every walk of life have overwhelmingly filled their streets for weeks to protest the regime; they are workers, students, women, the elderly and minorities long pushed to the margins — risking their lives for the sake of freedom. Reports from inside Iran speak of an ongoing gruesome massacre said to have killed 12,000 people in the last week alone. Internet blackouts and bullets are the regime’s answer to chants for liberty, like protests in the recent past when thousands of freedom-seekers lost their lives. The regime has no legitimacy: It is only a question of how long it can sustain its desperate cling to power, murdering innocent civilians under the cover of darkness, before it finally falls.

Iran is often portrayed as a monolith but it is one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse nations in the Middle East. As an ethnic minority, with a population in Iran of at least 10 million, Kurds have long-suffered from systemic, intersectional discrimination and oppression. In the current revolution and in previous freedom movements, Kurds have played a pivotal and indispensable role, spearheading the pursuit for freedom. In acknowledgment of their plight, the free Iran of tomorrow must put an end to entrenched forms of discrimination against Kurds and protect the rights of all minorities.

Kurds are also proven friends of the United States. Time after time, for 25 years, in Iraq and Syria, Kurdish forces fought shoulder to shoulder and died with American forces against terrorism and extremism. Komala forces fought with the U.S. military in Iraq against ISIS a decade ago. We understand the value of partnership, sacrifice and shared values and interests. We do not ask for Americans to fight our battles but we do ask the United States not to empower our oppressors.

Like the people of Iran, the United States has gained nothing from the Islamic Republic. Billions of dollars generated from Iran’s natural resources have not gone to schools, infrastructure or prosperity for ordinary Iranians or for that matter a more peaceful Middle East. They have gone to fund militias, missiles and campaigns that have targeted Americans and America’s allies across the region. For almost 50 years, oil exports to adversaries have propped up the regime and its radical proxies, which have chanted “Death to America” and used the proceeds to destabilize the region. In a new Iran, those resources would belong to the Iranian people and the nation could be a force for peace and security, not dedicated to the spread of tyranny.

Standing against brutality saves lives. Drawing a clear line between right and wrong lets tyrants know that there are consequences for their actions. History has shown that when America hesitates, violence escalates. On the other hand, when America leads with clarity and resolve, positive change becomes possible.

President Donald Trump said he would stand by the protesters fighting for their freedom and that “help is on its way.” The protesters heard those promises and are acting on it now, at tremendous cost. We ask that America stand with the people of Iran so that they can bring an end to a regime that has brought nothing but suffering at home and danger abroad. It would be a win for America too.