Outside the Bechtler Museum of Art in uptown Charlotte, more than 200 Iranian Americans gathered Sunday afternoon to protest and stand in solidarity with Iranians demonstrating against the Islamic Republic in Iran.
About 200 people waved the shir o khorshid, the Lion and Sun flag, Iran’s former national flag.
Protesters chanted and held signs reading “Free Iran,” “Democracy for Iran,” and “Down with the Islamic Republic.”
This was the second protest of the year, organized by Shahram Mazhari, a professor at York Technical College.
He said months of demonstrations in 2022 and 2023 following the killing of Mahsa Amini became a springboard for what is happening now.
“Back then, the primary issue was women’s rights issues,” Mazhari said. “Now it’s about job security, freedom, freedom of expression and freedom of speech in Iran.”
Mass demonstrations broke out in markets in downtown Tehran and have spread across the country.
Amid a total internet blackout, many people don’t know how their families are doing or what is going on in Iran.
For Mehnoosh Askari, it was important to be at the Charlotte protest to be a voice for people in Iran.
“What we know is most Iranian people are protesting against the Iranian regime, actually, this is a revolution,” Askari said.
“What the regime is doing by silencing them, not giving them internet, not letting the entire world know what's happening to them, they are mass murdering them, they are killing them. What we know is body over bodies. That's how they're brutal to the people of Iran, which they don't ask for much, they ask for simple freedom. The freedom you and I have here, we take it for granted, and that's all they're asking.”
Protesters said they hope people across Charlotte, including those outside the Iranian American community, will support the people of Iran and help keep international attention on what’s happening in the country.
