Human rights advocates of exiled Iranians have called upon western nations to do more in assistance. The E.U., U.S., and the U.K. have already imposed significant travel bans and even the asset freezing of security officials linked to a crackdown on protestors in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini in September.
A letter signed by 77 people accuses the regime of attacking its citizens from within. Signatories include Kazem Moussavi, the German Green party spokesman on Iran; Kylie Moore-Gilbert, the Australian academic and former political prisoner; and Elika Ashoori, the daughter of the freed British political prisoner Anoosheh Ashoori.
The letter states: “These young Iranians are bold and brave and not willing to give into the ruthlessness of the regime any longer. They are fighting for their life and they are fighting with their lives. Meanwhile, the Iranian regime is antagonizing their own population by imprisoning, torturing and killing. And it is antagonizing the ‘free world’ with a cruel game of chess, with a hostage-taking policy using dual citizens or non-Iranian citizens as pawns. Torturing them in solitary confinement, denying them basic human rights, destroying their lives and those of their families.
“Democratic countries have a responsibility to speak out and have a choice to make: Will we side with the oppressor or with the ones screaming for freedom and justice? While Ukrainians are battling an outside invader, Iranians are fighting an inside enemy — the regime. The ‘free world’ has proven that it is capable of supporting the fight for freedom of Ukraine, sanctions have been decided within days, clear actions have been taken.
“Now is the time to take action and to support the Iranian people in their struggle against a dictatorship.”
The letter is thought-provoking because it brings together the often divided and scattered Iranian opposition movement across the globe. Whether it has an effect remains in question.
The E.U. foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, has already acknowledged the need for Western support to do more to punish Iran for its wrongdoings but has been reluctant to link the situation with the prospects of a nuclear deal. European capitals may sympathize with protestors but believe the current regime will ultimately prevail.
Those that signed the letter also argued the protests are not just about the death of Amini but based on the consequences of decades of oppression. They say they want “to be able to laugh and live, to love and dance, to study and work, to have an opinion and to be allowed to express it, to have a choice and to be allowed to make a decision, to be free.”
Regardless, the West is wary of applying the same support to the protestors as it does to Ukraine. The conflict in Ukraine is already prompting the question of a nuclear threat. The West may not be willing to take on a theocratic state, but inaction itself is support for the current regime. At the same time, inaction is preservation against possible nuclear action, of which may be possible for Iran.
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