Lord of the Rings star Nazanin Boniadi accuses Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and Iran of ‘gender apartheid’

Massive protests have been taking place in Iran since September following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being detained by the country’s vice police. Since then, activists say more than 500 people have been killed and more than 19,000 detained in a crackdown by security forces.

“It is unprecedented that we see 12-year-old girls, schoolgirls, take to the streets and say, ‘We don’t want an Islamic Republic,’” Boniadi said. “The courage it takes is amazing. And that courage was infectious.”

However, poisoning has been suspected in girls’ schools in the country in recent months. While details remain difficult to ascertain, Human Rights Activists in Iran reports that there have been at least 290 suspected poisonings in schools in recent months, with at least 7,060 students claiming to have been affected.

It remains unclear what chemical, if any, may have been used. No attacks have been reported and authorities have not identified any suspects. Unlike neighboring Afghanistan, there have been no recent incidents in Iran of religious extremists attacking girls’ education. However, some activists fear that extremists may bully girls to keep them out of school.

“We are united by the fact that (with) dictators and despots they fear nothing more than a free and politically active woman. That’s why there is repression in Iran today…as you see in the chemical attacks on schoolgirls.”

She added, “We have to come together. We must unite. We must find a way forward and end these atrocities against women.”