Attribution to MojNews

Every week, I have tried to chirp one update about the protests in Iran. While media coverage in North America seems to be minimal, the protests are still happening.

Hengameh Ghaziani is an Iranian actress who has received a number of awards. She received a BA in Human-Economics Geotaphy from an Iranian University, and, she studied Western Philosophy at the University of San Francisco. She, along with another Iranian actress was arrested, in the last couple of days, for supporting the Iranian protests. Both women, showing solidarity went in public without wearing headscarves. Before her arrest, Hengameh wrote on social media,

“whatever happens, know that as always I will stand with the people of Iran”.

She then added that this might be her last post. Seems like she was right.

Last week, an additional four protesters were sentenced to death on the charge of “Emnity against God”. This brings the number of protesters receiving death sentences to five. Protesters arrested do not have lawyers during interrogation and are often beaten and tortured to induce them to give false confessions.

Last week, also, the ancestral home of the leader of the 1979 Iranian revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini was set fire to. While Iranian news agencies are denying that this happened, video clearly shows that it did. This is a taboo act. It could almost be like as if rioters attacked the US Capitol. Oh, right, that did happen.

Iran is in the World Cup of Soccer in Qatar. The national team had been accused by protesters as supporting the regime. I have Iran’s first game, in the background, on tv. They just lost to England 7-0. A while ago, defender Eshan Hajsafi, became the first member of the Iranian team to publicly support the protesters. During the national anthem, the Iranian team refused to sing their anthem. Iranian tv did not show this. This is just simply stunning. It would be like Team USA soccer team, at the same World Cup, all taking a knee at the anthem. It is just not done

Despite the Iranian regime crackdown, the protests have only increased. The immense courage of the potesters can not be understated.