‘Most significant’ uprising for freedom

“The Iranian people are not asking for sympathy; they are asking the world to stand with them as they confront a violent and illegitimate regime and reclaim their future,” said author and social activist Leila Naseri, who moved to Australia from Iran.

Iranians are bravely risking their lives to protest against the Islamic regime, with Naseri describing the uprising as the “most significant” in Iran’s contemporary history.

“The regime’s response has been brutally familiar: nationwide internet shutdowns, severe communication disruptions, mass arrests and the use of live ammunition against unarmed civilians,” she told The AJN.

“Teenagers, women and men are being killed simply for demanding their basic rights.

“Iranians in the diaspora have gathered in large numbers, raising the Lion and Sun flag and echoing the same slogans heard inside Iran. These actions reflect a single nation, inside and outside the country, with one shared will.

“For many of us, this moment is deeply emotional but also resolute.”

Academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert said the regime is using the cover of an almost-complete internet and communications blackout to massacre unarmed civilians in the streets.

“The regime is teetering and appears committed to crushing all dissent with maximum force, as for them, this is now existential,” she told The AJN.

National Council of Jewish Women of Australia president Lynda Ben-Menashe has called on all feminists to stand behind the revolution, “in the name of all women”.

“We must all amplify the voices of all those in Iran who are risking their very lives for the freedoms we take for granted in this country,” she said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia stands with the people of Iran, “who are standing up for their human rights, standing up for their dignity, standing up for a change that is required”, while Foreign Minister Penny Wong issued a joint statement with Canada and the European Union commending, “the bravery of the Iranian people as they stand up for their dignity and their fundamental right to peaceful protest”.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Peter Wertheim said: “With superhuman bravery, and at a terrible human cost, the Iranian people are hurling themselves against the brutal apparatus of repression of the theocratic dictatorship in Tehran. We pray for the Iranian people, and the success of their struggle.”