Mr. Speaker, I rise today to denounce the heartbreaking case of Ms. Zahra Shahbaz Tabari, a 67-year-old Iranian electrical engineer and human rights advocate who has been sentenced to death by the Iranian regime. Her so-called trial lasted 10 minutes and was conducted via video conference. She was prohibited from retaining a lawyer and sentenced to death based on ridiculous evidence: a piece of cloth bearing the words “woman, resistance, freedom” and an unpublished voice message. This is not justice. It is a cruel and calculated act of repression by a regime that continues to persecute its own people, especially women, for daring to speak out. Hers is just one of a multitude of similar cases this year alone in Iran.
We stand in solidarity with all in the Iranian community who continue to suffer under the brutality of the mullah regime, and call for freedom and democracy.