Call for strong stance

to take a stronger stance on the Iranian regime, while Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta was expected to move a motion yesterday afternoon for the New Zealand Parliament to condemn Iran’s actions.

Dr Negar Partow, an Iranianborn academic at Massey University, said it was as good a time as ever to condemn the regime – but New Zealand had lagged behind its five-eyes intelligence allies, including the UK and Canada, who had announced sanctions against Iran.

Human rights activists estimate the regime has killed more than 220 people. An ongoing series of protests and civil unrest started in Tehran on September 16, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody.

Partow said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had spoken against the ‘‘treatment’’ of women and girls, but fell short of using the term ‘‘violence’’.

She thought this was most likely because the Government had been negotiating for the release of social media influencers Topher Richwhite and Bridget Thackwray, after they were detained for nearly four months. But Ardern should use New Zealand’s credibility in the international community to platform the issue, and be clear about what its next steps were, she said.

‘‘The revolution [is] ... reconnected to a much larger global feminist movement. This is beyond the issues of sovereignty.’’

Mahuta’s motion comes after a rift between ACT leader David Sey