Max Amini pushes Hollywood to speak out on Iran

Hollywood has been relatively silent on Iran, with almost no direct mention of the war at the Oscars, and it has not gone unnoticed by a small group of Iranian-American celebrities.

Bobby Samini, a lawyer who has represented the likes of former Clippers owner Donald Sterling and T-Pain, is leading a charge to address the war that began March 1 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran. 

Max Amini, the first Iranian comedian to sell out Madison Square Garden, was the first to join Samini on their mission to get public figures in media, entertainment and sports to speak up about human rights abuses in Iran, by the current regime against its own people, on social media or at events

They’re calling the initiative Alliance for a Free Iran. 

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“I’d have to say that the Iranians inside Iran and outside Iran have been really out there, very vocal,” Samini said. “But we haven’t really seen engagement from outside our community in a way that we’ve seen with other causes. And that was a conversation Max and I had over several weeks and decided we need to get something going so that we can start that engagement.”

To spark that conversation, Samini is collecting stories from people in Iran of the regime’s human rights abuses, to help Americans feel connected with what’s happening on a human level. 

Alliance for a Free Iran’s mission is not political and nor are they for or against the war. It’s advocating for human rights, without taking sides on how those rights should be secured.

People are risking their lives in Iran to share their stories with him, Samini said, as the Islamic Republic monitors all the digital traffic in Iran. 

“The internet is primarily shut down,” he explained. “Some people will get intermittent access either through Starlink or through VPNs and they’ll be able to get us stories out. If they’re found out … they’ll likely be arrested and tortured and executed as well.” 

The stories Samini most wants to share are of the Gen Z activists who died leading widespread protests beginning in December, demanding economic reform and freedom of expression, amid crippling inflation and oppressive social policies. 

The death toll of Iranians killed by their government has been estimated at 20,000 to 30,000. The protests have died down, but protesters are still being hunted down. 

“One of the stories I heard was about families that had to go to makeshift morgues in order to find their dead children,” Samini said. “The regime has taken over the cold storage facilities in the cities because there’s so many casualties of their brutality.”

The FBI recently issued a warning that in February Iran had considered a drone strike on unspecified targets in California in the event of a US attack. 

“I think it should be taken very seriously,” Samini said. “Anybody who thinks that the Islamic regime does not have a far reach is wrong. They should be concerned because they will go to any length to extract their retribution.”

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