One day we will learn the full extent of the crimes against the great Baha’i people in Iran at the hands of the Supreme Leader, who has a particular hatred for them. What we already know is bad enough — but, as always, what we know represents only a small fraction of what has actually taken place.

The women of Iran carry their nation on their backs. For decades, they have been subjected to repression, violence, and an overwhelming system of gender apartheid. And they have managed, through all of that, to hold their families and communities together. All of these accomplishments are by Iranian women living in Iran, not in the diaspora. Iranian women have become a majority of university students and a dominant presence across many STEM fields, including medicine, science, and engineering. They have published extensively in medical research journals, engineering journals, and applied sciences journals, not just in Iran, but around the world. The women of Iran now make up roughly half or more of physicians, specialists, and medical researchers in Iran. Iranian women directors, editors, cinematographers, and producers have won major international awards. Iranian women have competed at high levels and won awards and trophies in taekwondo, climbing, shooting, chess, and archery. Iranian women mountaineers, climbers, and endurance athletes have quietly broken records with little state support. Iranian women lawyers, journalists, and activists have documented executions, defended political prisoners, and exposed abuses of minors and women. For this, they have been disbarred, tortured, imprisoned, and executed. Since 1979, the women of Iran have led protests, defined protest symbols, and reframed political language. Iranian women have outperformed men educationally, sustained families economically, led culturally and morally, innovated scientifically, and resisted politically, all while living under one of the world’s most legally restrictive gender systems.