Ottawa (AFP) - Women foreign ministers from a dozen nations led by Canada's Melanie Joly on Wednesday jointly condemned Iran's violent crackdown on women's rights, as protesters in the Islamic republic marked 40 days of unrest.
"As women foreign ministers, we feel a responsibility to echo the voices of Iranian women," said a joint statement issued by ministers from Albania, Andorra, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Kosovo, Libya, Liechtenstein, New Zealand and Norway.
In it, they expressed "solidarity with the courageous Iranian women engaging in their right of peaceful assembly and advocating for their human rights."
They also condemned the "violent enforcement" of Iran's hijab and chastity law and the "ongoing crackdown against protesters," including women and students, that has led to more than 200 deaths.
Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, died on September 16, three days after her arrest in Tehran by the notorious morality police for allegedly breaching the Islamic dress code for women requiring use of headscarves.
Anger flared at her funeral and quickly sparked widespread protests that saw young women lead the charge, burning their headscarves and confronting security forces, in the biggest wave of unrest in the Islamic republic for years.
