Iranian actress Nazanin Boniadi has said that the ceasefire between Iran and Israel must incorporate international support for dissidents in Iran who oppose the Islamic Republic, following an agreement between the two countries to end a 12-day military conflict.
Iran and Israel agreed to a ceasefire on June 24, following an armed conflict which Israel blamed on the Islamic Republic’s failure to dismantle its nuclear program. The conflict saw the launch of hundreds of missiles at nuclear, military and intelligence targets inside Iran and Israel. The attacks left at least 610 civilians in Iran dead including 13 children according to Iran’s government, and killed 28 civilians in Israel according to Israeli authorities. Senior Iranian officials were also targeted and killed during the attacks.
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“The Islamic Republic has been at war with the people of Iran for 46 years. A ceasefire must come with support for the Iranian people, such as internet access and pledging to disempower their oppressors,” Boniadi said in an interview with Kayhan Life. “Without these measures, the regime’s existential fear will fuel more bloodshed. The only way to protect the Iranian people now is to ensure that any normalization talks hinge on Iran’s transition to an accountable, representative government and support an internationally monitored free election, allowing the people to determine their own destiny.”
“The future of Iran belongs only to its people. They did not want war. This is a war the Islamic Republic brought upon them. While the regime has been severely weakened, so far it has survived,” Boniadi said. “Khamenei will not simply relinquish his power to a transitional figure or council. Ultimately, the system that has propped him up must lose faith in him and pledge their loyalty elsewhere.”
Iran’s government has been repeatedly accused by international human rights bodies and the United Nations in recent years of violently cracking down on anti-government protestors as well as lawyers representing human rights campaigners, and journalists reporting on the government’s activities.
There are reports that repression has resumed in the Islamic Republic since the start of the Israeli attacks.
More than 700 people across Iran have now been arrested for their alleged involvement with an Israeli espionage network, according to Iranwire. The individuals were accused of making bombs, operating suicide drones, photographing military sites and sending information to Israel, according to the state-run Fars News Agency.
Iran’s parliament also passed an emergency bill this week to broaden the scope of its espionage laws and to enable greater penalties for anyone found guilty of collaborating with ‘hostile states.’ The development has caused concern among human rights campaigners who say the bill will lead to wrongful prosecutions.
“Hours after the announcement of a ceasefire by U.S. President Donald Trump, the regime’s judiciary escalated repression further. Spokesperson Asghar Jahangir declared a dangerous amendment to the regime’s espionage laws, dramatically broadening the definition to criminalize ordinary civilians under fabricated charges of ‘collaboration with Israel,’” Shiva Mahbobi, the spokesperson for the Campaign to Free Political Prisoners In Iran (CFPPI), said in a June 24 press release. “This legal maneuver is a green light for mass executions, targeting journalists, students, activists, and anyone daring to speak out.”
The statement added that prisoners in Iran had already been mistreated during the conflict. The abuses took place during Israeli attacks which targeted military sites near a jail, and a direct attack on Evin prison which damaged the entrance to the jail and two adjoining courts. The buildings housed judges known for issuing arbitrary prison terms and death sentences against political dissidents.
“According to credible reports and video footage received by CFPPI, dozens of buses arrived at Evin in the early hours of June 24,” the statement said. “Political prisoners, several injured in the attack, were loaded onto the buses and forcibly transferred to undisclosed locations. Families have not heard from their loved ones. The authorities refuse to provide answers.”
“Since the conflict began, the regime in Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have arrested hundreds of civilians simply for filming or photographing explosions. The regime has cut internet access nationwide to silence voices and prevent communication. Security forces patrol with impunity, searching cars, phones, and threatening citizens,” the statement went on.
The country has experienced waves of demonstrations following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in 2022 while in police custody for allegedly failing to follow forced hijab laws. Her death launched the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ gender equality movement in Iran, and galvanized the ongoing labor demonstrations calling for better pay and working conditions amid a deepening economic crisis. More than 500 protesters were killed, including 70 children, by Iran’s security forces, and at least 19,000 people were arrested during the 2022 demonstrations.
Boniadi’s comments follow a ‘call for solidarity’ letter published on June 20, signed by Boniadi and several other prominent figures including: Dr. Shirin Ebadi, the lawyer and Nobel Prize Laureate; the human rights campaigners Narges Mohammadi and Nazanin Afshin Jam; Siamak Aram, a board member for the Washington-based pro democracy National Solidarity Group for Iran; Amir Gandjbakhche, the senior investigator at the Maryland-based National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering; and Nazenin Ansari, a former president and vice president of the Foreign Press Association, and the managing editor for Kayhan Life and Kayhan London.
The letter, which was addressed to Iranians and “friends of Iran around the world,” called on those seeking a democratic government in Iran to join together.
“In this critical and historic moment, only one path can lead to freedom, democracy, and an end to the Islamic Republic in Iran: national solidarity among Iranians, both inside the country and across the diaspora,” the letter said. “Without unity, Iran’s future faces the serious threat of chaos, separatism, civil conflict, and disintegration.”
“Now is the time for all Iranians opposed to the Islamic Republic, regardless of political affiliation, to stand together to prevent the devastation of our homeland,” the letter went on. “The leaders of the Islamic Republic have repeatedly shown that they prioritize their own survival over the future and well-being of Iran—even if that means total destruction.”
The letter also expressed solidarity with Iranians and called for the delivery of medical aid, internet access, the immediate release of all political prisoners, and the amplification of protestors’ voices inside the country.
Aram, who is a signatory to the letter, said he received a death threat from a man who worked for the Washington-based Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran while at a protest, according to a May 29 report by opposition news agency Iran International. Ramezan Soltan-Mohammadi appeared to make a throat-slitting gesture at Aram during a demonstration outside the Islamic Education Center in Maryland, in a video published by Iran International. A U.S. court issued a temporary order against Soltan-Mohammadi following the incident. The Interests Section is a part of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C., and represents diplomatic and consular activities of the Islamic Republic in the United States, though it is not officially recognized as an office of the state.
