For too long, Canada’s political class has pretended that the brutal Islamic regime in Iran is just another government on the world stage — instead of what it really is: an authoritarian theocracy that jails journalists, murders dissidents, crushes women’s rights, rigs elections, and guns down peaceful protestors demanding basic freedoms.

Iranians are risking everything to overthrow this dictatorship. While they march for liberty in the streets of Tehran and Shiraz, too many Canadian leaders respond with timid statements, diplomatic hedging, or silence. That has to end.

We, the undersigned, call on leaders at all levels of government to speak clearly and forcefully against the regime, to support the Iranian people’s fight for democracy and human rights, and to confront the regime on the world stage instead of appeasing it. It is time for Canada to take a stand — publicly, politically, morally — in support of those who are demanding their freedom.

A free Iran would be a victory for human dignity, regional peace, and democratic values. The only losers would be tyrants and their enablers. Add your name to show Canadian leaders that we stand with the Iranian people and against the regime that oppresses them.