On Saturday—just days before Iran's national team refused to sing the country's national anthem at the World Cup—100 cities around the world participated in a global action to show support and pay respects for Mahsa Amini and countless other Iranian protestors killed and detained by “Morality Police” or Guidance Patrol..
Local Iranian student associations helped stage one action at Curtis Hixon Park in downtown Tampa.
The rally was triple-pronged in its message of support by also paying tribute to those killed in “The Silent Massacre of 2019” in addition to remembering the 176 victims of Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 which was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp shortly after takeoff on Jan. 8, 2020. The airplane was enroute to Kiev from Tehran.
“I’m just reading a Tweet that these kids go (On Instagram) and their last stories are, “This might be my last story on Instagram. For the freedom of Iran” and they go (to protest). And then you read the next day they actually were shot. How can we just not come to be their voice?” Halleh Seyson, an American Iranian who traveled from Washington, D.C. for the action in Tampa, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
“Woman, Life , Freedom” could be heard in the chants of around 100 people in attendance against the backdrop of the historic minarets of The University of Tampa during the action, which was met with zero opposition from passersby and park attendees.
“In November 2019, there was a great massacre in Iran. Based on Reuters, they killed 1,500 people in the street at least. It was because of the gas prices and people were protesting” Sasan Mahmoodi told CL.
He was referring to the 1,500 Iranian protesters who were killed by live machine gun fire based on the direct orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in November of 2019.
