Omid Djalili has been speaking openly about the plight of people in Iran as anti-regime protests continue and regime repression intensifies.
In recent weeks, Iran has been rocked by protests as people take to the streets to demonstrate against the rule of an authoritarian theocracy.
Following these protests, the Iranian government has taken harsh measures against protesters, with human rights groups reporting that more than 2,400 people may have died in the crackdown.
What’s more, it has been difficult to specifically identify information on exact numbers because the government shut down the Internet, reducing protesters’ ability to coordinate and disseminate information.
However, both inside and outside the country there are hopes that the rule of the current Ayatollah, Ali Khamenei, will soon end and democracy will be allowed to flourish in the country.
Talking about the revolution The times It was the comedian and actor Omid Djalili. The London-born actor is the son of Iranian parents and has long been an advocate for Iranians living under autocratic rule.
Speaking to the publication, Omid, who appeared on the BBC’s Live at the Apollo program and the Royal Variety Performance, spoke movingly about learning that Iranian security forces had killed the brother of one of his friends.
He said the regime wanted the family to pay $5,000 (£3,700) to release the body and sign a petition saying something terrible.
Omid explained: “They found his body and the regime was looking for [them to pay] $5,000 and sign a statement that he was a member of the security forces and that he was killed by one of the protesters. That’s the kind of sick, dark thing they’re doing.
“The lowest estimate [for the number killed] There are 2,000 people. The highest estimate from Iran International, which conducted a full investigation over two days, is 12,000 people.
“I saw a video online of 14 or 15-year-old kids who had gone to the protest and were walking home and the security forces shot them all in the head. They were all on the ground, a couple of them were still fighting to be alive and people were trying to revive them. It’s horrible what they’re doing.”
This is not the first time Omid has spoken out about the unrest in Iran and the regime’s treatment of its people in recent days. Speaking to Andrew Marr on LBC, he said: “This is a strange, lunatic, fundamentalist version of Islam that Muslims are trying to distance themselves from.
“I have parents of friends and family in Iran who come to your house, shoot you in the head and throw your body in a ditch.
“And then they present the families with a bill that they have to pay, something like $5,000, to release the body and part of the bill includes bullets that they used to kill their loved ones.”
