Senator Mehreen Faruqi
Mr Craig Foster
Mr Julian Assange
Palestine Action Group

Subject: Urgent Concern Regarding Islamic Republic Imagery at Recent Pro-Palestine Rally

Dear Senator Faruqi, Mr Foster, Mr Assange, and members of the Palestine Action Group,

I write on behalf of the Iranian-Australian Community Organisation to express our deep concern and disappointment over the prominent display of Ayatollah Khamenei—the so-called Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran—behind the main speakers at a recent pro-Palestine rally in Australia.

Symbols of the Islamic Republic—including images of its leadership and the IRGC, a force internationally recognised for grave and ongoing human rights abuses—have no place at rallies that claim to stand for justice, liberation, and human dignity.

We are particularly dismayed because many of you—especially in 2022—stood in solidarity with the Iranian people during the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising. You joined anti-regime protests and spoke out against the Islamic Republic’s brutal repression. That makes the recent display not only troubling but painfully contradictory for Iranian-Australians who have fled or lost loved ones to this very regime.

The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wields direct control over the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He personally appoints the commander-in-chief, the head of the Quds Force, and the head of the Basij. He also oversees the IRGC’s internal security and its volunteer militia wing, the Basij Resistance Force.

The IRGC is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States and Canada, and in January 2023, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for its formal designation by the European Union. In the United Kingdom, parliamentary debates and legal processes continue to push toward full proscription.

The IRGC is also a major financier and arms supplier to Hamas and Hezbollah—two groups formally listed as terrorist organisations under Australian law. Their support includes training, weapons, intelligence, and sustained ideological and financial backing. Displaying symbols of the Islamic Republic and the IRGC—intentionally or not—risks appearing to endorse groups that engage in indiscriminate violence and destabilise the region.

For decades, the Islamic Republic has sought to co-opt the Palestinian cause to whitewash its own atrocities: the execution of dissidents, the blinding and imprisonment of peaceful protesters, the suppression of Kurdish and Baloch minorities, and the systemic oppression of women and religious groups.

We also draw your attention to the IRGC’s central role in Syria’s “surrender or starve” strategy—a campaign used to besiege and forcibly displace entire civilian populations. This strategy, backed by the IRGC and implemented by the Assad regime, has been identified by Amnesty International and others as amounting to crimes against humanity.

To see Ayatollah Khamenei’s image legitimised at a rally for human rights is not just tone-deaf—it is profoundly damaging. It undermines the credibility of the movement and retraumatises those who continue to fight for freedom in Iran.

We therefore urge all organisers and public figures involved to take active and preventative measures to ensure that such symbols are neither welcomed nor tolerated at future events. This includes:

• Making explicit public announcements before, during, and after events to state clearly that imagery or slogans associated with the Islamic Republic, the IRGC, or any regime complicit in human rights abuses will not be accepted;

• Denouncing such displays immediately and unequivocally if they appear;

• Disassociating the movement and its organisers from these symbols in clear and public terms;

• Screening rally materials and attendees more diligently to uphold the values of justice and solidarity.

Failing to do so risks compromising the moral integrity of the cause and alienating those who support Palestinian freedom while rejecting all forms of state violence and oppression.

Justice for one group must never come at the cost of enabling or legitimising the suffering of another.

We remain committed to the global struggle for dignity, equality, and freedom. We urge you to help ensure that the fight for one people’s rights is never used to excuse or enable the oppression of others.

Sincerely,
Siamak Ghahreman
President
Australian-Iranian Community Organisation