Chants of “Freedom for Iran” and “Women, life, freedom” filled the Travel Stops Stage and Great Lawn area in Scissortail Park on Thursday for a rally decrying the current Iranian government and the death of a 22-year-old woman in Iran.
Roughly 200 people, including keynote speaker Kendra Horn, a Democratic U.S. Senatorial candidate and Carmen Lessani, the president of the OU Iranian Student Association, gathered with signs, flags and posters to demonstrate their solidarity for women such as Mahsa Amini.
A demonstrator protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini at a rally in Oklahoma City on Oct. 13.
Amini died in police custody on Sept. 16 after she was initially arrested by Iranian “morality police” for not covering her hair to government standards, which enforces hijabs. The Iranian police said Amini went into heart failure.
In an interview with BBC, Amini’s father said the family was not allowed to view her autopsy report and witnesses told them she was beaten by police. Her death has inspired mass protests across multiple countries, including Iran.
“It is an honor to be here with each and every one of you this evening to stand in solidarity with the women of Iran, the men and the women here … and around this world (who) are standing up to say, ‘Enough,’” Horn said. “(They) are standing up to say that women around the world, women in Iran deserve their freedom and their voices, and we will stand against people who will take our rights away, who would take lives to enforce their own ideas.”
Speaker Mehrnoush Nourbakhsh, an OU neuroscience doctoral candidate and activist for women and minority groups, said there have been many women like Amini who have faced injustice due to the Islamic Republic’s rules. She praised the protesters for the actions they have taken against the government and called for others to stand with them in solidarity.
“(Protesters) sacrifice their freedom and lives to arrive at this moment. Now women and men including (the) younger generation, teenagers, parents and grandparents are following their footsteps, working side by side in the street in many cities of Iran chanting, ‘Women, life, freedom’ and calling for changing the Islamic Republic once (and) forever, because enough is enough,” Nourbakhsh said.
Rally speaker Peyman Hekmatpour, an OU sociology doctoral candidate, told the crowd that the problems people in Iran face today are ones that have gone on for years.
“Because of the Islamic Republic’s evil ideology and inept policies, Iranian people are now living under harsh economic conditions,” Hekmatpour said. “High levels of inequality, widespread corruption, total depletion of natural resources and a crisis-level water shortage problem are only a few examples of the results of more than 40 years of the Islamic regime’s rule over Iran.”
During the rally, speakers and protesters shouted and sang songs in Persian to show their support. To implement the systematic change protesters ask for, Nourbakhsh said sharing posts on social media is an easy thing everyone can do.
Nourbakhsh and Hekmatpour also stressed the importance of reaching out to local and federal government officials, so that they may support the cause. With the help of the international community, the voice of the Iranian people is widespread, Nourbakhsh said.
“We are here tonight to echo the voice of the Iranian people that enough is enough, and that we don't want the terrorist Islamic Republic as our government. Not anymore,” Hekmatpour said. “We want to ask the international community and the U.S. government officials to stand with the people of Iran in the fight for freedom, equality and justice.”
