The United States and Israel are bombing Iran. The people of Iran are caught between these attacks and the brutal repression of their own regime. At the same time, the regime is retaliating, launching missiles, drones, and fighter jets at targets in neighboring countries along the Persian Gulf. By threatening to block the Strait of Hormuz, it is also trying to draw the rest of the world into the conflict.

The Iranian regime will fall. Economically, politically, and morally, it is exhausted. The large protest movements of recent years have made this unmistakably clear. The only question is how long it will take until the regime collapses — and how many more people in Iran and across the region will suffer under it in the meantime.

I sincerely hope that the people of Iran will soon see an end to this oppression and will be able to build a future based on freedom and democracy.

But real political change can only come from within Iranian society itself. And it will only succeed if it brings together Iranians in all their diversity. Our responsibility in Europe is to support them as strongly as we can — politically, diplomatically, and through clear solidarity with those who are fighting for freedom and human rights.