Iranian people support Ukraine, condemn country's government for helping Russia - opposition leader Kourosh Sehati

Kourosh Sehati, one of the leaders of the student movement in Iran in 1999, and now a journalist of the independent TV channel Iran International, stated this in an interview with Glavkom. 

The oppositionist emphasized: the population of Iran, unlike the government, supports Ukraine's fight against Russia. And he added that the Iranian people consider it a great shame that their government helps the Russian Federation by providing it with drones and supporting the war politically.

“Ordinary Iranians support Ukraine, they are against Putin and against Khamenei (Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei - Iranian politician and spiritual leader, the Iranian regime considers him an Ayatollah - Ed.), they want freedom not only for themselves, but also for everyone who  is fighting for it. You and I are on the same side, because you are fighting for your country, and we are fighting for ours. And we are also against Putin, because he supports our Islamic government,” Kourosh Sehati said.

The Iranian journalist is convinced that both Ukraine and Iran will  gain freedom one day. He said that last weekend in Berlin during the protests of Iranians living in Germany, balloons with Iranian and Ukrainian flags were symbolically launched. 

“These flags were raised to freedom. Someday, both our countries will win it,” he said.

Kourosh Sehati spoke in more detail about the protesters in his country and what they are demanding.

“First, our country was led by the shah, now it is ruled by religious leaders. But both the first and the second are undemocratic governments. Now people understand what they want: that religion be separated from the government and in the future the country becomes democratic, that the government be re-elected every four years. I think that after the victory, an Assembly should be convened, which would write a new Constitution for the country, which will respect human rights,” he said.

The oppositionist noted that not all participants of the protests against the current regime in Iran are supporters of the democratic system, there are also those who support the old regime. At the same time, he emphasized that the main goal of this revolution is to gain freedom.

• In September, protests erupted in Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who fell into a coma and died in hospital after being arrested by the morality police, who zealously enforced hijab rules. On September 19, 5 deaths were reported during the protests. On September 22, the number of dead protesters increased to 31 people.

• On September 23, the United States imposed sanctions on Iranian security forces for the murder of Mahsa Amini.

• On September 25, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi vowed to "resolutely deal" with the protests, which at the time covered most of Iran's 31 provinces. On October 3, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei broke his silence on the protests to accuse the US and Israel of organizing them.

• On October 20, Canada introduced new sanctions against Iran for its brutal crackdown on protests.