A regime that blinded these women and hanged men for peacefully demanding freedom must be met with handcuffs in democratic countries, not handshakes. This is exactly why I stood at the UN Security Council and directly criticized the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Millions of us Iranians believe that when UN officials send congratulations to the very criminals who have carried out massacres in Iran, they forfeit their moral authority to speak about global peace and security. You cannot congratulate executioners and claim to defend human rights. The Islamic Republic is not a normal government. They don’t represent the People of Iran. We are talking about a regime that has massacreed thousands of peaceful protesters, blinded women and men by deliberately shooting pellets into their eyes, poisoned schoolgirls with chemicals simply for daring to seek an education free from ideology and finishing off the wounded ones in hospitals. These are not allegations. These are documented crimes. And this violence does not stop at Iran’s borders. The regime practices transnational repression: assassination plots in New York, kidnapping attempts, terror networks across Europe and the Middle East. It hunts dissidents abroad while lecturing the world about sovereignty. Allowing its foreign minister to speak at the Human Rights Council is not diplomacy. It is normalization of mass murder. When you give a microphone to a regime that blinds women, poisons schoolgirls, and executes protesters, you are not protecting peace. You are empowering them to kill more of us . History will not forget who stood with the victims and who stood with their killers.

The heartbreaking story of two young sisters who protested in Iran and were reportedly sexually assaulted in detention. Twin sisters Taraneh and Romina Rahimi were just 20 years old. One dreamed of opening her own equestrian club. The other worked in a shoe shop. Today, one is facing execution. The other has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. The sisters, from Isfahan, were arrested in the middle of the night. Security forces broke into their home, tied their hands and feet, put bags over their heads, and took them away. For four months, no one knew where they were. Their mother spent night after night searching outside courthouses, prisons, and hospitals, desperate to find her daughters. When she finally saw them in Dowlatabad Prison, both had bruised and swollen faces. Parts of their hair had fallen out or had reportedly been ripped out. Taraneh said that while held in solitary confinement, she could hear her sister screaming and crying as she was tortured. Interrogators repeatedly struck Taraneh’s previously operated knee and threatened to sexually assault her sister if she refused to sign forced confessions. According to Taraneh, a prison medical official told her: “You’re going to die anyway. What difference does it make whether you die with a broken leg or a healthy one?” A complaint alleging sexual assault during detention was formally filed. Yet the court did not hold even a single hearing to investigate the allegation. Instead, the two sisters and other defendants in the case were handed death sentences and decades-long prison terms. Confessions extracted under torture. Lawyers given just ten minutes to review an 8,000-page case file. A judge who insulted the defendants more than 20 times during the proceedings. Two young irani women had dreams and that is why they joined the January uprising to demand Freedom. Now one faces the gallows and the other could spend the best years of her life behind bars. Be their voice. #TaranehRahimi #RominaRahimi