US VP meets Iranian-British actress Nazanin Boniadi, voices support for Iran protests

United States Vice President Kamala Harris on October 14 met with the Iranian-born British actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi in an act of solidarity and to express support for the anti-regime protesters in Iran. During her meeting with the Iranian actress, Harris emphasized the courage of the Iranian female activists, who she stressed, have inspired not only her but the world, according to a readout from Harris’s office. The human rights advocate,  Boniadi, is known for her role in Amazon Prime’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and has been one of the most vocal supporters of the anti-hijab demonstrators in Iran, who have been out on the streets since the death of the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini. 

"I met Nazanin Boniadi today to discuss the peaceful protests in Iran. The women and girls who are risking their lives to stand up for equal rights and basic human dignity are an inspiration to all of us around the world. We see you and we stand with you," US Vice President Kamala Harris wrote on Twitter, alongside the photograph of her meeting. 

US 'will make sure important voices are heard': Harris 

Harris, during the talks, “commended those in Iran and in the Iranian diaspora who are giving a voice to the aspirations of a new generation seeking fundamental rights that Iran’s regime has for decades attempted to deny and suppress through repression and violence," the White House said. Further, she underscored that the Biden-Harris Administration will continue to stand with Iranian women and citizens.  The two also discussed how the United States will make sure the important voices are heard, including by making it easier for Iranians to access the Internet, and that Iranian officials are held accountable for their brutality and abuses. 

As the protests against the hardline cleric regime of the Islamic Republic intensified over the brutality and torture wreaked by the so-called "morality police" on the women of Iran over their dress code, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told the briefing earlier that the "entire world is watching the current situation in Iran." He then reiterated that the United States stands with the Iranians and will hold those committing the human rights abuses to account. Sullivan denounced Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi for comparing the compared protestors, largely women and girls, to “flies,” noting that “these protestors are Iranian citizens, led by women and girls, demanding dignity and basic rights.”

In a series of tweets, Sullivan said: “The world is watching what is happening in Iran,” as he pointed to several innocent protestors, including a young girl, shot dead by the regime.