Lancaster MP meets with Iranian asylum seekers over fears for their families during unrest

At least 76 protesters have been killed by Iranian security forces during 11 days of unrest sparked by the murder of Mahsa Amini.

Activists say the 22-year-old was killed by ‘morality police’ who objected to the way she was wearing her hijab.

Thousands in Iran have taken to the streets in protest and the state has responded with mass arrests as well as shutting down the internet.

“We’ve not been able to contact our family in days,” one asylum seeker, Ali, told Ms Smith. “There are reports of many people being attacked by the security forces, and we’re very worried.

"We need the UK government to condemn the Iranian government’s actions. This brutality will carry on unless we have the support of the international community.”

More than 60 Iranians and local people took part in an impromptu protest outside Lancaster Town Hall on Saturday, which coincided with national activism which called on the UK government to condemn the Iranian government’s latest actions, and to demand an end to human rights abuses and the introduction of free elections and democracy.

Ms Smith has now written to the new Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on their behalf and says she will do all she can to support them.

Mahsa Amini was a Kurdish woman from the north-western city of Saqez. She was arrested in Tehran by so called ‘morality police’ for allegedly violating the strict law requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf.

She was taken to a detention centre to be ‘educated’ but according to the state authorities she allegedly ‘collapsed’ and died in hospital three days later.

“Ali and his fellow asylum seekers had to flee Iran in fear of their lives,” Ms Smith said. “In their homeland Iranians live under a dictatorship which controls every aspect of their lives. In many cases they face religious persecution and they’ve had enough. Iranians no longer want to live like this.

“On their behalf I’ve written to the Foreign Secretary highlighting their concerns. and their demand for an end to these awful human rights abuses. I’ll do all I can to help them in their cause to bring about free elections and a functioning democracy.”

Iran Human Rights said it has recorded the deaths of 76 protesters across 14 provinces, including six women and four children, although it warned that restrictions on the internet were causing delays in reporting.

“Videos posted on social media have shown women defiantly burning their headscarves on bonfires,” said Ms Smith. “They’re so brave, they’ve been cutting their hair in public to chants of ‘women, life, freedom.’

"I desperately hope this is their time - that the oppression of women and girls will become history and they have the freedom to go to school, socialise and choose the career path they want without the threat of violence.”