John Yang:

A symbol of hope for women who want a better future.

This week, President Biden announced new sanctions on Iran. In a statement he said in the face of continued oppression and violence the citizens of Iran remain committed to this movement and to their fight for a free and democratic future. Iranians alone will determine the fate of their country. But the United States remains committed to standing with them.

To explore this further Nazanin Boniadi, she's a Iranian born human rights activist and ambassador for Amnesty International UK. She's also an actor who's appeared in many popular movies and television shows. Thank you for being with us.

This protest or this movement began obviously over the hijab law but hasn't become bigger than that has encompass more issues than that?

Nazanin Boniadi, Actress and Activist: Thanks for having me John. Yes, the shorts of it is yes. You know, Mahsa Jina Amini was not just a young woman. She was a Kurd and a Sunni. She was a member of religious and minority ethnic groups. So what her death did and by the way, she was just a normal woman. She was just an everyday woman living her life. She wasn't killed for anything, but just expressing herself freely and living her life normally, just for wearing her hijab inappropriately, quote unquote.

And so she really became a symbol of the antithesis of a male Shia geriatric intolerant ruling elite in Iran, and it galvanized Iranian society at large to stand for democracy and freedom.

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