Foreign ministers from around the world will discuss the protests in Iran during a virtual meeting this week in Canada, Canada’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.
Mélanie Joly and her peers will meet on Thursday following the riots sparked by the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini last month while being held by Tehran’s morale police, unleashing one of the most difficult challenges for the Islamic Republic since the revolution of 1979.
“My peers and I will come together to send a clear message: the Iranian regime must end all forms of violence and persecution against the Iranian people, including its brutal attacks on women in particular,” Joly said.
“Canada will continue to support the brave Iranians who are fighting for their human rights and defending their mothers, sisters, wives and daughters. Women’s rights are human rights,” she added.
During the virtual meeting, the foreign ministers will listen to women of Iranian origin and discuss the situation of human and women’s rights in Iran, Joly’s office said. They will be given the opportunity to coordinate efforts and discuss “ways to increase collective support for the Iranian people.”
Canada has joined other nations, including the United States, in imposing sanctions on Iran.
Although the current unrest does not appear to be close to overthrowing the Iranian government, the situation has raised international concern as talks over Iran’s nuclear capability appear to be at a standstill and Tehran has moved to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. defying the West.
Iran has accused countries that have expressed support for the protests of meddling in its internal affairs.
The spotlight on Iranian women continued on Wednesday when mountaineer Elnaz Rekabi, who caused controversy by competing in an international topless competition, returned to Iran.
Amini, originally from Iran’s Kurdistan region, died on September 16 after being detained three days earlier by morality police in Tehran for her “inappropriate clothing.”
Iranian religious leaders have tried to portray the riots as part of an uprising by the Kurdish minority that threatens the unity of the nation, rather than as a protest against clerical rule.
