Public Comment
A Call for Unity Among Iranian Protesters as Plans for More Demonstrations Are Announced
On Friday, February 10, eight prominent Iranian dissidents participated in a panel discussion organized in Washington DC at Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security. All eight joined in a call for unity, both in Iran and internationally, against the theocratic regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nobel laureate and women’s rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi, actress-activist Golshiftah Farahi, Iranian soccer-star Ali Karini, and Kurdish activist Abdullah Mohtadi all spoke via video from Iran; while present at Georgetown University were Canade-based activist Hamed Esmaellion, exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi, US-based author & women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad, and actress-activist Nazarin Bonladia.
The group announced that that they are preparing a charter they hope to have ready by the end of February in which they lay out the principles of a nationwide referendum in Iran calling for an end to the Islamic Republic and the writing of a new, secular constitution. On Saturday, February 11, the regime marked the 44th anniversary of Iran’s 1979 revolution that brought Ayatollah Khomeni to power. Current president Ebrahim Raisi addressed a crowd on Saturday in Tehran’s Azadi Square, though his televised speech was hacked on the internet by a group of protesters.
Meanwhile, as I reported last week in these pages, prominent opposition figures such as ex-president Khatami and ex-prime minister Moussavi have denounced the regime. Likewise, many Iranians have denounced the token gesture of a “limited pardon” for arrested protesters issued by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. This so-called pardon also came with a warning that if those pardoned were re-arrested they would face “dire consequences.” The regime has already executed at least four protesters; and it is reported that 537 protesters have been killed by security forces during the demonstrations.
In spite of the regime’s brutal crackdown, plans are being made for continued protests. There are calls for mass demonstrations nationwide against the regime on Thursday, February 16.
