Thousands of people, many of them Iranian men and women, marched through the US capital of Washington on Saturday in support of protests in Iran and marched to the White House under the slogan: “Women , life, freedom”.
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Leaving at the end of the afternoon from the National Mall, the large esplanade in the city center, the procession in the colors of the Iranian flag headed under the sun to the White House, chanting “we want freedom” or even “Justice for Iran”.
“This is the fifth weekly protest we’ve done in Washington, and I think it’s the biggest,” Siamak Aram, one of the organizers, told AFP.
Without wanting to advance on a definitive figure, he estimated that it would be “above 10,000” people.
Some protesters had come from other US cities, such as Boston in the case of Mahshid, 28, who wore a green t-shirt that read “help free Iran.”
“We no longer want this tyrannical regime which prevents us from enjoying our human rights and our freedom”, declared the young architect who left Iran three years ago and who, like many others, does not did not want to give his full name because his family remained in this country.
On a sign held by another young woman, a lock of hair hung next to the message: “Our hair may bother you, but our spirits will be through with you”.
For more than a month, large-scale protests have been taking place in Iran, sparked by the death of young Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by vice police who accused her of breaking the strict dress code of the Islamic Republic.
On Saturday, demonstrations of support also took place in Berlin and Tokyo.
In Washington, Marjan, 55, said it was important to “show that we support the people of Iran.”
She was pleased that the procession includes people who have lived in Iran and others who have not, people “of all ages, of different religions”.
Her childhood friend Negar, whom she knew in Iran, had come to visit her from England, where she also took part in a demonstration.
“This is a wonderful revolution led by women, who are the most oppressed in Iran,” the 53-year-old Iranian told AFP. Referring to Saturday’s protest, she said: ‘The least we can do is be there.’
