Mr. Speaker, exactly one year ago, thousands of Iranians exercised their fundamental right to peaceful protest following an abrupt increase in the price of fuel. These peaceful protests were met by a brutal government crackdown, leading to the death of over 300 innocent civilians and dozens upon dozens of arbitrary arrests. Two months later, Flight 752, carrying 176 passengers and crew, was mercilessly shot down over the skies of Tehran by two missiles fired by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
This abhorrent pattern of behaviour is further reflected in the unjust treatment of the iconic Nasrin Sotoudeh, the human rights lawyer, and the horrific execution of Navid Afkari, a 27-year-old wrestling champion. These atrocities by the Iranian regime should not be ignored. No Iranian deserves to live amidst constant repression day after day, week after week and year after year.
For all these reasons, I would like to thank our government for sponsoring a resolution at the United Nations condemning the flagrant disregard for human rights by the Iranian regime. The international community should never look the other way. We must continue to hold the Iranian government to account and demand that it immediately end terrorizing its own people.