'US war on Iran not about the Iranian people: Europe can put the issue of human rights on the table'

Article excerpt

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, president of Iran Human Rights, argues that Iran's government has weaponized regional conflict to intensify domestic repression, with civilians risking their lives to document abuses. In an interview with France 24, he contends that Western focus on military tensions obscures the regime's crackdown on dissent and that Europe has an opportunity to leverage human-rights concerns in diplomatic talks. Amiry-Moghaddam suggests the international community shouldn't conflate criticism of Iran's rulers with hostility toward ordinary Iranians, a distinction he says U.S. rhetoric often blurs.