Canada-based activist Hamed Esmaeilion on Sunday urged Iranians worldwide to take part in protests marking the third anniversary of the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini, whose killing in police custody in 2022 sparked the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising.
Esmaeilion, a human rights activist and member of the board of the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims, said demonstrations will be held simultaneously in more than 20 cities across the globe.
In a video posted on X, he confirmed he would join a Toronto rally on September 14, marking the third anniversary of the 2022 protests that erupted nationwide following the death of Mahsa Amini.
He said similar gatherings were being organized in Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, Nuremberg, Geneva, Gothenburg, London, Barcelona, Turku, Ghent, Ottawa, Montreal, Houston, San Francisco, Sydney, Wellington and Christchurch. Events are scheduled between September 13 and 16.
Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, was arrested by Iran’s morality police on September 13, 2022, for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict hijab law. She collapsed in custody and died two days later, igniting months of nationwide unrest that rights groups say left at least 551 people dead, including dozens of women and children.
In his video, Esmaeilion said he would also attend a marathon in Toronto in memory of political prisoners and victims of executions, naming Sharifeh Mohammadi, Varisheh Moradi and Pakhshan Azizi among those he wished to honor.
He also expressed solidarity with Kurdish teachers dismissed or exiled in recent months, prisoners on hunger strike, and Mehran Bahramian, who was executed earlier in the month.
Last year, the second anniversary of Amini’s death saw protests from Melbourne and Tokyo to European capitals, with diaspora groups chanting Woman, Life, Freedom and calling for international sanctions on Iran’s leadership. The Los Angeles City Council renamed an intersection in the city’s Iranian district to mark the anniversary.
Rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have said Iran’s crackdown on the protests amounted to crimes against humanity. A UN fact-finding mission said widespread and systemic repression, particularly against women and girls, has continued since 2022.
Esmaeilion, whose wife and daughter were killed when Iran’s Revolutionary Guards shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane in 2020, has become a prominent voice among the Iranian diaspora.
He urged Iranians abroad to use the anniversary to amplify calls for justice and to ensure, he said, that “the world does not forget.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will under no circumstances negotiate about its defensive capacities,” spokesman Esmail Baghaei said at his weekly briefing.
“The Iranian nation will not allow talks on the tools necessary for defending our dignity and independence.”
On possible withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, he said the issue remains with parliament and no decision has been made.
EU mechanism under review in Tehran and Brussels
Baghaei confirmed that EU contacts continue after Britain, France and Germany triggered the snapback mechanism on August 28, demanding wider access for IAEA inspectors and accounting for Iran’s uranium stockpile.
“Contacts between the two sides continue on a rolling basis—both at ministerial level and among deputies,” he said.
He called the foreign minister’s meeting with EU foreign-policy chief Kaja Kallas in Doha “useful” and confirmed Tehran is reviewing proposals exchanged with Brussels.
“We and the European side must examine and finalize these proposals in the relevant bodies,” he said, adding that further exchanges are likely but no timetable has been fixed.
A third round of talks with the IAEA ended on Saturday and is now being assessed in Tehran. “After the final assessment, the next stage of negotiations will be announced,” Baghaei said.
Moscow and Beijing stance
Baghaei pointed to a joint letter signed with Russia and China rejecting the European attempt to restore sanctions under Resolution 2231.
“Both countries believe that the three European states lack the legal competence to restore UN sanctions, because they have repeatedly and continuously breached their obligations,” he said.
A growing number of Security Council members share that view and argued that reverting to pre-2010 measures would be “illegal, unjustified and damaging,” he argued.
Tehran has been preparing “for all scenarios” in coordination with Moscow and Beijing, Baghaei added, describing them as key partners in the Security Council, BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
He confirmed Iran will present a resolution at the IAEA General Conference later this month, aimed at prohibiting attacks on nuclear facilities. The draft, he said, reflects existing international law and criticized Washington for threatening to halt agency funding if it is adopted.
Broader politics
Baghaei addressed Iran’s outreach to Venezuela, saying support is based on “principles of international law and awareness of the dangers of unilateralism and bullying.”
On China, he said Tehran’s 25-year cooperation agreement with Beijing is also progressing “without particular problems,” though oversight is required to address challenges as they arise.
On US limits to Iranian participation at the UN, Baghaei called the restrictions a violation of international rules but confirmed President Masoud Pezeshkian will attend the General Assembly in New York.
The spokesman ended by criticizing Washington’s proposed renaming of its defense department, saying it “explicitly declares its hostility to the principles and norms of international law.”
Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order renaming the Department of Defense as the Department of War, reviving the title the agency held from 1789 until 1947.
Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang works closely with the Cartel of the Suns, a network of military elites long accused of moving cocaine in collaboration with Hezbollah, the report said.
“President Trump has taken numerous actions to curtail Iran’s terrorist proxies like Hezbollah,” State Department spokesperson Anna Kelly said.
“The president has proven that he will hold any terrorist group accountable that threatens the national security of our country by smuggling narcotics intended to kill Americans.”
Hezbollah’s role: laundering and logistics
Brian Townsend, a retired DEA special agent, called last week’s US maritime strike near Venezuela “a decisive blow against narco-terrorists.” He said Hezbollah’s role is pivotal yet often out of view.
“They don’t get their hands dirty. Instead, they launder and provide networks to help cartels send money through the Middle East. Simply, they take a cut from the drug trade, which then funds their operations in the Middle East,” he said, adding that Hezbollah has become “a main finance and money launderer for narco-terrorism groups like Tren de Aragua.”
Townsend and other experts pointed to state complicity as the key enabler. Under Nicolás Maduro and Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan officials and infrastructure have been tied in US indictments and sanctions designations to cocaine shipments protected by senior officers in the Cartel of the Suns, they said, with Hezbollah-linked facilitators processing portions of the proceeds.
Diaspora links and state support
Danny Citrinowicz, a senior fellow at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Hezbollah’s reach hinges on the region’s Lebanese Shia diaspora. “Hezbollah is the connector between the diaspora and Iran,” he said.
Through family ties, imams, religious centers and educational programs, he added, the group forges contacts with local cartels, sells drugs and channels profits back to Lebanon via elaborate schemes.
Citrinowicz cast Venezuela as Iran’s anchor in the Western Hemisphere, pointing to deepening military and economic ties -- from Iranian-assembled UAV production for the Venezuelan army and regular Quds Force flights via Africa, to training on sanctions evasion and billions in capital injections.
He said Tehran’s footprint is effectively tethered to Nicolás Maduro’s rule and would lose its most important Latin American stronghold if he left office.
“As long as Maduro is there, the Iranians will be there,” he said. “If Maduro goes, Iran will lose the most important stronghold of its activity in Latin America.”
Townsend argued the most effective leverage is financial: target facilitators, disrupt logistics, pursue indictments, and squeeze the money flows so cocaine shipments become less profitable.
“The priority is to attack the financial and logistical networks, indict everyone we can and pressure Maduro,” Townsend said. “If we can cut off the financial arteries, the cocaine won’t be as profitable.”
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 39th International Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran, Pezeshkian said, “We have no quarrel with any Muslim country and are not seeking conflict. We are committed to the unity of the Islamic Ummah.”
He told participants that external powers sought to profit from discord among Muslims. “The enemy sells weapons to Islamic countries, takes their resources, and wants to set us against each other,” Pezeshkian said. “If the Islamic community were united, could America, Israel or any other country violate the rights of Muslims?”
“The problem is us, not America or Israel. The problem lies in the disputes, divisions and quarrels we have among ourselves.”
The president said Iran considered all Muslims as brothers, including Palestinians, Iraqis, Egyptians, Qataris and Emiratis. “This is not only a slogan, but our belief,” he added, pointing to what he described as Iran’s resilience during the recent 12-day war with Israel.
He said Iran’s unity had prevented its adversaries from achieving their goals.
“The enemy thought a few missiles would make our people turn against the system, but instead the people showed solidarity,” Pezeshkian said. He added that while military power was important, the stronger “slap” to Iran’s enemies had come from national unity.
He also urged Islamic leaders and scholars to promote justice and brotherhood. “You are the elders of religion and must spread the Prophet’s message of justice and unity. We may have differences of opinion, but we must not act against unity,” he said.
The president said Iran appreciated condemnation by Muslim countries of US and Israeli actions but insisted more collective action was needed. “If we act sincerely and on the basis of justice and piety, the other side will surrender,” Pezeshkian said. “This conference is a beginning to break division and establish the brotherhood ordered by the Prophet.”
The 39th International Islamic Unity Conference will run from September 8-10 in Tehran with the theme “The Prophet of Mercy and the Islamic Ummah.” Organizers said more than 1,000 participants, including 80 scholars, 210 foreign guests and 2,800 activists from across the Muslim world, are attending.
