I am a British solicitor with close ties to the Iranian community. Like many Iranians in the UK, I have heard news of loved ones being detained or injured and have spent days unable to reach friends and family in Iran during internet shutdowns, fearing for their safety while the outside world is cut off from what is happening on the ground. I started this petition because silence and inaction allow repression to continue unseen.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a national security threat for the UK. They have provided drones to Russia which were used in the war in Ukraine; the Islamic Republic funded and supported terrorist organisations like Hamas. They have for decades persecuted religious minorities, men, women and children inside Iran. Millions of Iranian people have now called for a change by coming to the streets and demanding an end to the Islamic Regime in Iran. 

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly responded to peaceful protests with systematic violence, including killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, and enforced disappearances. Recently, over 2-3 days they have reportedly murdered more than 16,000 civilians including patients; detained at least 20,000 protestors including children; injured at least 300,000 peaceful protestors causing about 8,000 people to be blind. Doctors in Tehran are under attack and hospitals are “overwhelmed” as reported by BMJ. The authorities reportedly set a market on fire whilst people were protesting and shot anyone trying to escape; they have also subjected detainees to injections with substances unknown to the inmates. These actions constitute crimes against humanity and happened whilst the regime cut the people’s means of communications with the world. Internet shutdowns and disconnecting telephone and mobile services are being used as a tool of repression, silencing millions of Iranians and preventing the world from witnessing human rights abuses.

We urge the UK Government to provide practical and meaningful support to Iranian protestors, who are courageously demanding the fall of the Islamic Republic of Iran and seeking to freely determine their political future. These demands have been expressed by millions of Iranians inside and outside the country.

Therefore, we call on the UK Government to:

1. Actively support the restoration of internet, mobile, and telephone access in Iran, including through technical assistance and international coordination, to prevent communications shutdowns from being used as a tool of repression.
   
   
2. Use legal, economic and political pressure through international mechanisms to prevent further violence against protesters by the Islamic Republic, to make the regime release the protestors who have been detained unlawfully under international law and to provide medical treatment to the injured without threats of violence or detention.
   
   
3. Urge the United Nations to initiate and support international investigations, including through the International Criminal Court, into crimes against humanity committed by leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran and demand accountability for those responsible.
   
   
4. Ensure the implementation of travel bans and visa restrictions on senior leaders of the Islamic Republic and their close relatives, including IRGC commanders, judges, prison officials, security chiefs involved in repression, as well as state media and propaganda leaders — and move to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and speed up legislation to target state-backed organisations.
   
   
5. Stand firmly with the Iranian people, advocate for international recognition of the Iranian revolution, and provide practical international support so that the Iranian nation can exercise their fundamental right to self-determination and establish a democratic future chosen freely by the people of Iran.

Silence and inaction enable oppression. The UK is urged to stand on the right side of history by actively protecting its national security and by supporting freedom, accountability, and the international legal rights of the Iranian people to self determine their political status safely and peacefully.