World’s female foreign ministers meet to show support for Iranian women

Female foreign ministers across the world joined a virtual conference on Thursday to show support for Iranian women who are protesting governmental policies and fighting for their freedom.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly hosted the meeting on Thursday with other female ministers from Germany, Chile, New Zealand and Norway.

Joly shared a picture of the virtual conference on Twitter and added “the women of Iran are speaking clearly.”

“No longer will they tolerate the regime’s vision of women in society,” she tweeted. “As women foreign ministers, we have a responsibility to amplify their voices as they fight for their human rights, and to work together in support of the people of” Iran.

Other female foreign ministers who joined the conference represented the countries of Albania, Andorra, the Central African Republic, Iceland, Kosovo, Libya, Liechtenstein, Mongolia and Panama, according to Reuters.

The foreign ministers were expected to hear from women of Iranian heritage during the meeting, Reuters reported.

Protests have swept Iran following the death of 22-year-old Iranian national Mahsa Amini, who was detained by the nation’s morality police for improperly wearing a hijab, and the demonstrations show no signs of abating.

Iranian law enforcement have executed a brutal crackdown on protesters and have killed at least 185 people, including 19 children, according to the organization Iran Human Rights.

Joly on Wednesday announced new sanctions on Iran, the third package of sanctions from the country.

The latest round targeted six Iranian entities and individuals Canada accused of being “among the worst offenders that have participated in or enabled gross human rights violations, including against Iranian women.”

Iran has blamed Western nations, including the U.S., for inciting the protests and meddling in the country’s affairs.