Iranian women who moved to Australia have shared heartbreaking stories of abuse at the hands of Iran's morality police on Q+A, and called for the Australian government to take action against the Islamic republic.
Their complaints included a claim made by panellist Saba Vasefi that labelled the Iranian government a "terrorist" organisation.
While that complaint led to an emotion-charged exchange with Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones, it was the story of audience member Sara Bakhshi and the alleged abuse she suffered at the hands of Iran's morality police that struck a chord with the studio audience.
The morality police are presently being protested against in Iran and globally over the death of 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini, who died in their custody last month.
Ms Bakhshi told the audience that she, too, was detained by the morality police, when she left Iran to fly to Australia on a student visa and hinted at worse, without making a specific allegation.
"I've had so many similar experiences as the women in Iran," Ms Bakhshi told Q+A.
"I've been in their place," she added, before she stood up and asked the audience to look at her, minus a head scarf.
"I want people to see the way I look now. I can get killed for the way I look in my country," she said.
"I don't think there's anything wrong in my appearance."
Ms Bakhshi then detailed some of the treatment she had received at the hands of Iranian police, starting when she was a child.
"The first time in police custody I was 12 … it was when I was in my cousin's car going to a supermarket for essential shopping and he's older than me, so he was driving me there and he was a boy.
"The morality police pulled over the car and they asked us what's the relation between me and my cousin and, because we said we are cousins and we don't have any marriage certificate — because obviously in Iran, girls and boys cannot be out on the street if they're not married officially with a marriage certificate — so they took me into police custody.
"They kicked me," she said as she fought back tears. "That was the first experience I had.
"The second time, third time, I've been kicked because I had nail polish on my toes walking on the street.
"I was kicked out of uni class because I had my scarves back and my hair was out, so I wasn't able to study for a semester in my uni back home."
She then detailed being detained before leaving for Australia and said the morality police asked deeply personal questions about her relationships with men.
"When I stopped answering, they took my passport,"she said.
"They took my passport and said: 'You need to answer the questions if you don't want to miss your flight.'
"So, I kept answering and they kept asking me a lot of things, like what am I involved in in Australia, if I'm doing anything against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
"They took me to a really dark room and it was really scary."
She said the interrogation continued and, when she was eventually let go, she had missed her flight — before she was again detained at another airport checkpoint where she was subjected to a body search.
"So, that was the last experience I had. I'd rather not explain the end, it wasn't really nice."
'They are real terrorists'
Ms Bakhshis's story drew a solemn response from Q+A host Stan Grant, who asked if the Australian government's response was enough, leading to the terrorism claim from Ms Vasefi.
"My request from the West, and especially the Australian government, is to de-legitimatise the Islamic Republic as a legitimate government. Reduce them to a terrorist group," she said.
Ms Vasafi said she had evidence of them being a terrorist organisation and supporter of terrorism.
"I don't know who is advising this government about Iran, but whatever you are hearing probably is not accurate," she said.
"I think the Australian government is so relaxed … I'm happy to provide, you know, massive amounts of visual evidence, textural evidence.
"They are real terrorists. They are friends of Al Qaeda. They are a friend of Hezbollah. They are a friend of the Taliban.
"Whoever is involved with terrorism, they are defending them.
"The Iranian government demonstrated they are murderers. They have no mercy. They kill children."
The Assistant Treasurer said the government was looking into the issue of Iran, but forming policy would take time.
"These are things we have to look at but we're not going to rush into it," he said.
His comment led to a statement from Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong about Australian support for the women of Iran.
Asked if he would back that statement, Mr Jones said he and the Albanese government would.
"You can be assured that the Australian government will act in accordance with the values that have been expressed by Penny, as we have in other places around the world," he said.
"We'll seek to do it through working in combination with other countries around the world, so that whatever we do has the most powerful and forceful effect."
