Hundreds rally to ‘spread voices’ of Iranian people at Boston Common

Hundreds in Massachusetts turned out Saturday morning to stand with Iranian protestors risking their lives to demonstrate against the government.

“We want to make sure people know we’re risking a lot,” said Mohamad, one of the organizers. “It’s not just us here; they can harass our families back in Iran. The only way to protect people is if word spreads.”

Anti-government protests have swept across Iran in the last week in response to the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini. Amini was arrested by the country’s morality police while on vacation in Tehran for allegedly wearing her headscarf too loosely and pronounced dead in police custody days later. A witness reportedly saw her beat with a baton.

A Iranian state TV estimate puts the protests’ death toll at 35 as of Friday afternoon.

Some Boston protestors requested to not use their full names to prevent relatives in Iran from being identified.

A group of young Iranians living in the Massachusetts met in a Telegram group and pulled together the rally in just three days, according to organizer Parmida. By Saturday, Parmida said, around 500 people showed out.

“We’re fighting not just to get rid of the morality police,” said Parmida. “We want a new government.”

With the “brutal, violent suppression” occurring and the government cutting off internet access, Parmida said, the community wanted to ensure the Iranian protestors are able to be heard by people across the globe — keeping an eye on the actions of the Iranian government and the message the demonstrators are risking their lives for.

Some protestors Saturday also joined in an international symbol of support, shearing off their hair in solidarity with Amini and the women of Iran. One woman, who went by G.B., said the act has a certain “symbolism, like losing vitality.”

An attendee, Elahe, noted that being queer is also still punishable by death under the country’s theocratic rule.

International human rights groups should be doing more, G.B. said, adding there’s a disparity in the urgency the organizations have targeted to Ukraine in comparison to the treatment of human rights abuses in Iran.

Parmida also said that the action of the U.S. government, in making deals with the Iranian regime, are seen as condoning the abuses and they’re seeking to hold U.S. leaders “accountable” as well.

The #Mahsa_Amini hashtag has broken records, gaining more than 40 million retweets as of Friday.

Parmida said they’re seeking to only amplify the recognition, bringing her name and story to “as many people as possible.”