Iran? Portugal must “summon” ambassador to “condemn violence”
ANDIn an interview with Lusa, Goli Ameri, who in addition to being the former Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs was also Undersecretary of Humanitarian Diplomacy at the International Federation of the Red Cross, asked the world to unite and lend its voices in solidarity with the Iranian women.
“This includes Governments around the world, international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the press, women’s rights and human rights organizations, the private sector, and men and women everywhere raising their voices for freedom and equality. “, appealed Goli Ameri, who was born in Tehran, the Iranian capital, and is currently vice chairman of the Board of Directors of Freedom House, an organization based in Washington.
“You now live in a world where we are all together. A mass movement in one corner will always impact the movement in another. I understand that last Saturday, as in most major cities in the world, there were protests in support of Iranian women in Lisbon The Iranian people thank Spain and Germany for summoning the Iranian ambassador to convey the ‘absolute condemnation’ of the Islamic Republic’s violence against peaceful protesters.
Last weekend, Iranian citizens organized protests in several countries, such as Portugal, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Canada, the United States of America (USA), among others.
In an interview also with Lusa, and regarding the protests that have shaken the Islamic Republic in recent weeks, Iran’s ambassador in Lisbon, Morteza Damanpak Jami, accused “some figures in the country and abroad” who are “against the Government” to instigate the demonstrations.
The protests were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish girl was arrested on September 13 in Tehran for “dressing children by the police”, having as victims days later in a hospital while still under the police.
Since then, men and women of Iran have taken to the streets, cut their hair in public in protest and chanted songs about freedom.
The peaceful protests were mainly repressed by the local police, which has already caused the death of more than 150 people, according to the non-governmental organization (NGO) Human Rights Iran, based in Norway.
Asked whether the protests could really shake Iran’s regime, Goli Ameri told Lusa that the Iranian government has a lot to lose “in terms of power and, more importantly, money”.
“This will not be an easy one. Iran’s foreign minister is already repeating the tired rhetoric that Iran is ‘no place for coups and color revolutions’. This is an abominable way of marginalizing women and the people of Iran. “. “, said Goli Ameri, who has dual Iranian and US nationality and has previously held diplomatic roles at the UN.
“So allow me to repeat: nothing – and I want nothing – is more important than saying Iranian solidarity, so that the regime understands that it has no freedom for people who express their anger and frustrations. The Iranian people and women women need to see that the world supports them,” he concluded.
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