We were responsible for what happened. Perhaps we deserved it. But it is still up to us to change things for the better.

Opportunities for any significant easing of bilateral tensions have been few and far between, but by most accounts include the period shortly after Mohammad Khatami's election as president in 1997.

"The Queen And I" is a newly released documentary that introduces Iran's former empress to a onetime opponent turned filmmaker. In their native Iran, Farah Pahlavi resided in a palace and lived a fairy-tale life; Nahid Persson grew up wishing her parents didn't have to work so hard, and ended up joining the revolution against the shah. Thirty years later the two meet, and find they have more in common than they had expected.

The former empress of Iran, Farah Pahlavi, is the subject of a newly released documentary from an unlikely source -- Iranian-born filmmaker Nahid Persson, a former communist who took part in the 1979 revolution. Farah Pahlavi discusses her decision to participate in the documentary, which follows the former empress and her onetime opponent as they share ideas and concerns about the country they were both forced to leave.

Reza Deghati has spent the last three decades capturing images of despair, hope, and the lives of ordinary people in war-torn areas around the world. And the photojournalist, known internationally simply as "Reza," has the Iranian Revolution -- whose 30th anniversary is being marked in the run-up to February 10 -- to thank for helping steer him toward an award-winning career.

American John Limbert has had what could be called a lifelong love affair with Iran since first traveling to the country in 1962. When the U.S. Embassy was captured by Iranian students in 1979, Limbert was newly posted as a Foreign Service officer. Along with 50 other Americans, he was held captive for more than a year. Today, he shares his reflections on the 30th anniversary of Iran's Islamic Revolution.

Thirty years after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the promises of economic justice that helped spur the movement remain unfulfilled. With unemployment in oil-rich Iran approaching double digits, inflation spiraling, and incomes far below levels seen under the shah, the economy has exposed itself as the establishment's Achilles' heel.

U.S. President Barack Obama has said he would be prepared to extend a hand of peace if Iran were to "unclench its fist," and his administration has reportedly sent a letter aimed at unfreezing diplomatic relations. Some Iranian rights activists see this as an encouraging sign, and believe their work could benefit.

This week and next, Iran is marking the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. The 10 days of observances mark the time it took the revolution's leader, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Kohomeini, to topple the last vestiges of the Shah's rule following his return to Iran on February 1. Since then, the Islamic Revolution has proved to be one of the world's most durable. But has it succeeded in making life better for ordinary Iranians?

Today, like at that time, the Iranian people deserve better than what they have. These creative, artistic, and humane people should have the opportunity to fulfill their talents and their dreams in peace, freedom, and security without worrying that someone will put them in jail for expressing the wrong opinion or wearing the wrong clothes.