Independent statement by group of Iranian Canadian physicians

You have probably now heard about the growing protests throughout Iran despite consistent use of violence by the Iranian security forces. These protests were sparked by the killing of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in custody of the morality police simply due to having a few strands of hair showing despite wearing a hijab.

Since the protests started, hundreds of protestors, mostly young adults and children, have been killed or arrested. People of Iran have revolted time and time again against this regime for numerous reasons, such as fraudulent elections, but this time the people are unanimously pleading for freedom. What marks this uprising is the unprecedented acts of resilience, determination, and bravery by young Iranian women who have been on the protest front lines. The slogan chanted consistently throughout this uprising has been: “women, life, liberty.”

Many gatherings and protests have now been carried out across 150+ cities in support of the people of Iran. In Toronto alone, 50 000 protested against the Islamic regime. Several petitions have been prepared, and many celebrities, including Roger Waters and J.K. Rowling, have supported the uprising. However, it still has not been taken as seriously as it should by the international community.

To further spread the message of this uprising throughout the medical community in hope of receiving your support, we would like to share a song composed by an Iranian musician, Shervin Hajipour, who is expected to receive a Grammy award this year: https://youtu.be/0De6Asvzuso

This song was composed based on the tweets of Iranian people about the situation in Iran and has been emblematic of the plight of the Iranian people. This musician was arrested, but because of the worldwide protest, the Iranian government was forced to free him on bail.

Please be engaged with the news on the plight of the brave Iranians defending their basic rights empty handed against the live bullets of security forces. Please be their voice, spread their stories, and defend their precious young lives by following Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International reports and petitions.

Links:
●    Amnesty International: End the protest bloodshed in Iran
●    Change.org: Speak up against killing Iranian women #MahsaAmini
●    Change.org: Petition to deport and/or seize assets of Islamic Republic relatives in Canada.
●    Change.org: North American healthcare community against government brutality in Iran
●    Change.org: Tell IRI to stop using ambulances to transport repressive agents and arrested civilians 

—Mahyar Etminan, PhD
—Katayoun Rah, MD
—Saeedreza Zavareh, MD
—Hamidreza Abdi, MD

Doctors across Canada who also signed this letter in support and solidarity with the authors:
—Katayoun Rahnavardi, MD 
—Saeedreza Ganjizadeh Zavareh, MD
—Sima Amid, MD
—Reza Torkjazi, MD
—Mehdi Shahsavan, MD
—Ali Aryafar, MD
—Mahshid Gharedaghi, MD
—Sima Zolfaghari, MD
—Roudabeh Hassani, MD
—Mojdeh Sharafudin, MD 
—Kourosh Eshafi, MD
—Majid Moteabbed, MD 
—Hamid Masoudi, MD
—Toktam Bahri, MD
—Sanam Javid, MD
—Arezou Rodd, MD
—Mahdad Hejazi Rodd, MD
—Shirin Kiani, MD
—Farzad Rezvani, MD
—Parisa Soltani, MD
—Pegah Afshar, MD
—Kourosh Edalati, MD
—Helen Heydari, MD
—Roozbeh Ahmadi, MD
—Monam Ravaghi, MD
—Foroozan Ghohari, MD
—Setareh Banihosseini, MD
—Katayoun Kiani, MD
—Yahya Aghakhani, MD
—Paria Kian, MD
—Sharareh Behmanesh, MD
—Hamed Ghaffari, MD
—Ali Akbarzadeh, MD
—Masoud Shahrokhi, MD
—Amin Aminbakhsh, MD
—Elham Shadaei, MD
—Ahmad Ramin Setayesh, MD 
—Mahsa Moeen-Alsadat, MD
—Sara Hafezi Bakhtiari, MD
—Mandana Kamyar, MD
—Lili Naghdi, MD 
—Fatereh Akhlaghi-Kakroudi, MD
—Zhila Fazeli, MD
—Behnoosh Dashti, MD
—Fariba Kaboli, MD
—Soghra Jougheh Doust, MD
—Mahnaz Mahmoodi, MD
—Anoosh Alamian Harandi, MD 
—Mitra Mohammadi, MD 
—Farshid Tabloie, MD
—Pooneh Seyed-Akhavan, MD
—Shahrzad Akhtari, MD 
—Mahnaz Karimi, MD
—Nazanin Ghossi, MD
—Atoosa Enzevaei, MD
—Mahyar Etminan, MD
—Hamidreza Abdi, MD
—Abbas Azadian, MD
—Shaghayegh Rezaie, MD 
—Arian Behzadi, MD
—Shagha Khayambashi, MD
—Sirous Jafarian, MD
—Haleh Doulatyariazar, MD
—Sarah Elmi, MD 
—Maryam Rezaei, MD
—Layla Safinia, MD
—Fariba Nazemi, MD 
—Naghmeh Mokber, MD
—Marjan Rouzbahman, MD
—Mitra Monir Abbasi, MD
—Neda Abedi, MD
—Saghi Salehi, MD
—Mahtab Asadabadi, MD 
—Maryam Eftekhari, MD
—Pegah Shahriaree, MD 
—Nooshin Samadi, MD
—Sirous Jafarian, MD
—Bahar Amin, MD
—Maryam Fesharaki, MD
—Lida Mohammadi, MD
—Nasrin Safavi, MD
—Nasrin Hosein Pur Nobari, MD
—Farnaz Ghorbani, MD 
—Roya Firoozabadi, MD
—Mojgan Taremi, MD
—Mojgan Farangi, MD
—Anita Aghabagheri, MD
—Babak Fanaei, MD
—Zohreh Afshar-Ghotli, MD
—Shahrzad Ghotbi, MD 
—Afrooz Derakhshan, MD 
—Farahnaz Ganjizadeh Zavareh, MD
—Mohammad Nasibi, MD 
—Jinoos Jianfar, MD
—Manijeh Mohammadi, MD 
—Tina Behboud, MD
—Shirin Ahangari, MD 
—Parisa Airia, MD
—Farnaz Ardeshiri, MD 
—Azar Bahrami, MD
—Mojgan Ettehad, MD
—Kamyar Keramatian, MD
—Kamran Bordbar, MD
—Nasrin Tehrani, MD
—Amin Kazemtabrizi, MD 
—Alireza Mahdavifar, MD 
—Niloofar Asgari, MD
—Lida Alibalazadeh, MD
—Sepideh Pojhan, MD
—Shahnaz Azimzadeh, MD 
—Mahnaz Eskandari, MD

This post has been peer reviewed by the BCMJ Editorial Board.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.