Canadian MP Roman Baber followed the viral Iran protest trend and lit a cigar — standing in front of his office — from a burning photo of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. He posted the video on social media with a two-word caption that read: ‘F Khanemei’.The photo of a woman lighting a cigarette with Khanemei’s burning photo became a trend as several women started posting similar videos. The trend, however, did not start in Iran and the woman in the first viral photo was in Canada. The woman was dubbed ‘Morticia Addams’ on social media. The 25-year-old lives in Canada and was reportedly arrested during the November 2019 protests in Iran. She said she posted the photo as a gesture as she could not be on the street. “Every time I was on the street. This time I couldn’t be. Forgive me, Mother Iran,” she wrote in one post. The image gained international attention after JK Rowling shared a poster showing the woman lighting a cigarette from a half-burned portrait of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.Rowling wrote: “If you claim to support human rights yet can’t bring yourself to show solidarity with those fighting for their liberty in Iran, you’ve revealed yourself. You don’t give a damn about people being oppressed and brutalized so long as it’s being done by the enemies of your enemies.”Canada praised the bravery of the Iranian people in their protest and condemned the regime for the killing of protesters. “We strongly condemn the killing of protesters, the use of violence, arbitrary arrests, and intimidation tactics by the Iranian regime against its own people. Iran must immediately end the use of excessive and lethal force by its security forces including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Basij against protesters. Too many lives – over 40 to date – have already been lost.“The Iranian regime has the responsibility to protect its own population and must allow for the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal,” a joint statement of Canada, Australia and the European Union, issued on January 9, read.According to human rights organizations, at least 599 people have been killed during the two weeks of protest. US President Donald Trump says Iran has proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic as a crackdown on demonstrators has led to hundreds of deaths. Trump said late Sunday his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran. Iran did not acknowledge Trump’s comments immediately. It has previously warned the US military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
