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TV chatshow star Ellen DeGeneres has backed protesters in Iran, telling her 125 million Instagram followers that “there is a human rights crisis happening in Iran”.
The American TV host, 64, said in the post: “There is a human rights crisis happening in Iran, and Iranians have taken to the streets in protest. Tomorrow, October 1st, in support of The Global Day of Action for Iran, @IamNazaninNour will be taking over my Instagram Stories at the Freedom Rally for Iran in Los Angeles to bring awareness to what is going on and what we can do to help. We should all be outraged. #MahsaAmini #IranProtests
“More information about the rally on Nazanin’s page.” (sic)
She joins a growing list of celebrities who have voiced their support for the protests and for Mahsa Amini.
They include former First Lady of the United States and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, British Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner, American model Bella Hadid, Hollywood icon Sharon Stone, pop star Justin Bieber, Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain, Kim Kardashian, Turkish singer Melek Mosso, Penelope Cruz, Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, actress Eva Mendes, and the British Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling, among others.
Nazanin Nour, 40, is an Iranian American actress, model and writer. She recently said in an Instagram video: “The Iranian government is counting on you to just click past everything and not care, and I am asking you to please click on our posts and share.”
Mahsa, 22, was declared brain dead and died in hospital three days after apparently being beaten by Iran’s morality police.
She had been detained for what was described as a ‘re-education class’ after she was arrested next to a metro station in Tehran for failing to adhere to Iran’s strict hijab rules on 13th September.
Hours later she was in hospital with a skull fracture “caused by a direct blow” and internal bleeding, according to hacked CT scans obtained by a London-based news organisation known as Iran International.
Doctors went on to say that Mahsa had blood and fluid in her lungs because she went into a coma soon after receiving a blow to the head, according to the news organisation.
United States National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, wrote in a tweet that Iranian authorities should be held accountable for human rights violations.
Tehran officials reportedly at first said that Mahsa died of a heart attack and went on to say that she suffered from epilepsy, a claim that her father has denied.
All women, including tourists, have had to wear a headscarf in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Mahsa’s death caused outrage around the world and sparked protests in Iran, with the country shutting down parts of the internet in a bid to disrupt the growing protest movement.
(T4/ends)
