Today, as I reached out to write a note about the neglected issue of mental health and human rights for people to live in peace and tranquility, I was met with the heartbreaking news of a young filmmaker’s murder by his own father, with the help of his mother, as a witness to the unseen. This tragic event serves as a reminder of the importance of addressing the fundamental and essential right to access mental health care.

Regarding the example I have chosen to open the discussion from certain angles and refer to the ambiguities of the situation; is it possible that the father, who dismembers his own child, may have suffered from psychological imbalance due to his past experiences in the war fronts and being a victim of war and the history of the revolution? In this case, how can the mother justify her complicity in this murder? Has the mother sacrificed her maternal love by supporting her husband? Can we accept a child who, inspired by his own fate, makes a film about the longing of immigrants who have been separated from their families and may have been cruel and evil? It seems that the father has also mentioned the corruption of his child in justifying the murder. But is this not also a psychological issue? The accused, aware of the flaws in the flawed judicial system, knows that by justifying his actions according to religious beliefs, he may receive a reduced punishment and pretend to be religiously motivated. Has this not

But regardless of the accuracy of each of the mentioned narratives, one thing cannot be doubted: this crime is a result of the collapse of mental health and at the same time a sign of this collapse. Other news of the same kind also have the same verdict, a large number of so-called honor killings like the beheading of Romina Ashrafi by her father, the murder of Alireza Javan Ahvazi by family members, a man’s rape of his infant daughter, the increasing cases of child abuse, the first-time theft of half of the recent arrested thieves, the increase in brutal kidnappings and dozens of other social harms have all emerged and are signs of the mental collapse of society and a moral apocalypse in the country. At first, it may seem that the perpetrator is responsible for each crime and theft. There is no doubt that a thief commits theft, but the question is why this society, compared to other societies, even some Islamic societies, and even compared to its

A superficial look at statistics also shows a direct relationship between the simultaneous increase in economic problems and various social crimes. We do not need to be sociologists to know that ten, twenty, or fifty percent inflation is equal to an increase in theft, divorce, addiction, and other social harms. A multitude of statistical research confirms this relationship. In this case, can a government, when it prioritizes its ambitions in proxy wars and regional conflicts and destructive nuclear projects, hide its share, role, and responsibility in the occurrence and increase of these harms? Is it not one of the primary duties of a governing system to create economic and social security? It is obvious that the cost of politically divisive projects of the Islamic Republic is not only imposed on society in the form of inflation or high prices, and the government must also accept responsibility for the collapse of the mental and moral state of society. Political officials, whether they know, do not know, accept, or do not accept, are involved in the murder

The reasons for this claim are numerous and varied, from religious sayings that are attributed to Islamic rulers (for example, the statement attributed to the first Shia Imam, “I am amazed if a Muslim in the Islamic society goes to sleep hungry and does not rise up against the community with a sword”) to human rights and sociological and statistical research, to confessions of politicians during political competitions. Furthermore, a closer examination of many issues supports this statement, such as the fact that alcohol consumption in an Islamic country, according to statistics provided by officials themselves, is higher than many countries where it is not prohibited by religion or law. Why is the average age for committing indecent acts in this country, after the Islamic Revolution, supposed to be much lower than during the previous regime? And there are countless other examples.

In another note, in previous issues of this same publication, I had discussed the responsibility and role of the government in the deaths of many Iranian writers and artists. I do not intend to repeat those words, but following the discussion of the tragic murder of an artist named Babak Khoramdin, whom I mentioned today, I would like to bring up this point that only at the time of the death of Gholamhossein Saadi, or the suicides of Kourosh Asadi and Eslam Kazemiye and Siamak Purzand and many others, can we consider it voluntary, as there was no unethical and illegal system of censorship, inspection, and dozens of other restrictions and pressures. Now, there are countless cases of depression and mental disorders among artists and writers, which are often not seen or reported by the media.

However, these damages are not limited to only writers or artists. Iranian institutions have repeatedly ranked first to third in the world in terms of depression in various surveys, and the question arises as to why a country with such immense wealth of oil, gas, mineral resources, and vast land should have fallen into such misery.

As mentioned before, the responsibility and share of government officials and rulers in this realm and prosperity is not a secret, to the extent that not only critics, but even government leaders acknowledge it and only attribute it to rival factions within the government. It is enough to take a half glance at the statements of the highest-ranking government officials who speak against each other through their official media, and not only do they not deny it, but they also insist on it.

Let me be brief. When the rulers themselves insist on their share of corruption, collapse, and destruction of Iranian society, what is the need to state the obvious? It only remains to remind that one cannot be in power and benefit from its privileges and perks, and at the same time claim to be in opposition and cry out “thief, thief”. It was said that one can deceive one person forever and everyone for a short time, but one cannot deceive everyone forever. The era of puppet games has passed, and the responsibility for the reckless actions has fallen on the shoulders of the accomplices. Each and every official, as their name suggests, is morally responsible for all the calamities of society and must be held accountable; not only for the shrinking of the people’s table, which can be estimated by numbers, but also for the sufferings and turmoil of the spiritual, mental, and moral damages of each and every victim, which cannot be measured or counted.