British-Iranian actress Nazanin Boniadi called out progressive activists for their lack of outrage over the regime’s human rights violations before President Donald Trump conducted military strikes against the nation.
The “Rings of Power” actress appeared on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” Wednesday to discuss the ongoing war against Iran and concerns over the vacuum of leadership in the nation after the US eliminated its leaders.
She agreed with concerns that an ISIS-level threat could take over the country but noted that several human rights activists and organizations did not acknowledge civilian deaths until after the US targeted Iran.
“For people who care about international law as I do, I’m getting plenty of messages from colleagues in entertainment and saying, ‘I’m so sorry in this moment, what’s happening to your people.’ Thank you, but where were you a few weeks ago, when tens of thousands of Iranians were being killed by their own regime?” Boniadi said. “This is a regime that has been violating international law for decades.”
Tapper remarked that he also hadn’t “really heard a ton” from international progressive activists regarding Iran’s human rights violations, even after the nation launched hundreds of missile and drone strikes against other Muslim-majority countries in retaliation.
“I mean, if any other country did that, I think there’d be a huge hue and cry and huge marches in the streets. Iran does it, and there really isn’t that result in the progressive community. What do you make of that?” Tapper asked.
“Look, in 1979, progressives world over, including in Iran, were all too willing to sacrifice women‘s rights, LGBTQ+ rights and every other basic human rights at the altar of anti-imperialism. Are we going to do the same in this moment? Are we really caring more about whose hands are on the trigger, or are we going to care about human lives, civilian lives?” Boniadi answered.
“This is a regime that has violated human rights,” she continued. “International law has wreaked havoc on the region, domestic oppression, transnational repression, hostage diplomacy, destabilizing the region. And now, it’s killing fellow Muslims in neighboring countries. Where is your outrage? Where are the college campuses?”
Boniadi, whose family fled Tehran for England following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has been a longtime supporter of Iranian protesters and has previously used her career to highlight atrocities conducted by the Iranian regime.
During the Academy Women’s Luncheon in 2022, she appealed to several Oscar-winning Hollywood figures to show support for female protesters in Iran following the death of a 22-year-old after she was arrested for wearing her hijab too loosely.
“We owe it to our counterparts in Iran to stand with them as they fight for their most basic human rights,” Boniadi said.