What’s happening in Iran and why Australia should care

 During the demonstrations (which are largely peaceful), the protesters are met with excessive and lethal force. Countless Videos show Iranian security forces beating protesters and using shotguns and assault rifles on crowds. 

A woman who attended one of the protests spoke of the following:  

“[Security forces] ran toward a 13-year-old boy who was standing among the crowd. He was so delicate and small that he didn’t even resist. He was on the grass protecting his head while they were beating him.”  

It’s also been widely observed by nurses and doctors treating protesters that Iranian security forces are specifically shooting at women’s faces, breasts and genitals with men being more likely to be shot in the legs, buttocks and back. All around, there have been hundreds of reports of protesters losing their eyesight after being shot with pellets at close range.

Even outside of the organised demonstrations, no one is safe – not even children. 7-year-old Helen Ahmadi was shot by security forces for chanting against the regime while returning home from school. Horrific abuse is also experienced by the doctors and nurses operating in defiance of orders and threats not to treat protesters. Medical personnel have been detained, beaten and even murdered for doing their job. Such is what happened to physician Aida Rostami who was kidnapped and murdered by the regime for treating protesters. After her body was returned, her family observed signs of torture including a crushed face and a missing eye. Her genitals were also bruised and her arms were broken. The regime claimed that she was killed in a car accident but her family was told by the medical examiners that they were ordered by the regime not to reveal her true cause of death. 

The above is only a summary of what is happening. The stories provided only scratch the service of all the bloodshed and atrocities committed by the Iranian regime against its people. It is also worth noting that the majority of demonstrators and people facing execution are young people around our age. 

I believe that Australia has a moral obligation to impose sanctions against the Iranian regime. As said in a statement by the minister of foreign affairs, the Australian government has imposed Magnitsy-style sanctions on Iran’s Morality Police, the Basij Resistance and on six Iranian individuals who participated in the crackdown on protesters. A Magnitsky-style sanction involves travel bans and the freezing and requisition of assets. Many activists and individuals from the Iranian diaspora have called for greater action. Submissions to a hearing held in December last year called for the government to expel the Iranian ambassador and to freeze the assets of and impose travel bans on others connected to the regime.

But why should Australia care? Some may argue that Australia should do nothing. They might argue that Australia has ‘more important’ issues to deal with in our own country or that we are in no place to sanction a foreign government for the way it chooses to govern its people. They might also mistakenly believe that the Iranian regime represents the views of the majority of its citizens. 

The majority of Iranian citizens do not support the regime. A survey conducted by the Netherland-based institute Gamaan found that 41% of survey respondents want the regime overthrown while 21% of respondents preferred “structural changes and a transition from the Islamic Republic”. Only 18% of respondents reported being happy with the current regime. According to Gamaan, the result of this survey can be generalized to the Iranian population with a credibility level of 95%. As this survey was conducted in early 2022, it is likely that support for the regime is now even less than the figure found in the survey due to their recent abhorrent treatment and murder of protesters. 

In Australia, we pride ourselves on being a country where women and men are afforded equal rights and opportunities. We are proud of our democracy, and we are thankful for our right to freely criticise anyone in government. Why shouldn’t we fight for these same rights to be afforded to all people? Concerns for human rights and women’s rights should not be limited by geography. While Iranian women and men are bravely risking their lives in protest, the least we can do is spread awareness of their struggle and advocate for our government to take action. The situation for protesters in Iran is dire. We must use our voices to advocate for the people who can’t do so without facing terror, bullets and death.