Women, life, freedom: Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, lends support to Iranian women

Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle made a surprise appearance at Spotify's headquarters on Tuesday and spoke in support of the protests in Iran while wearing a shirt emblazoned with a message written in Farsi.

Markle, 41, took the centre stage at an event for Women at Spotify - a female-run resource group at the streaming company - wearing a shirt with Farsi words meaning 'Women, Life, Freedom' written across the front. The former royal was accompanied by two executive members of her organization Archewell - executive vice president of global communications Ashley Hansen, and president Mandana Dayani, both of whom are Iranian women.

Dayani took to social media and expressed gratitude to Markle for extending support to the Iranian women. "Women. Life. Freedom. Allies have shown up in so many forms over the past month since the death of Mahsa Amini," she penned while posting a picture with Markle and Hansen. 

"I am so grateful to work with incredible women like Meghan and my fellow Iranian colleague and friend, Ashley Momtaheni, as we continue to highlight the bravery and courage of the women and young girls on the frontlines of one of the most important feminist movements of our lives," Dayani added. 

Elaborating about the event, Dayani commented, "At an event today, Meghan spoke about the revolution being led by women and young girls in Iran, the courage and bravery they show every day, and their leadership and advocacy of basic human rights: women, life, freedom."

She concluded, "As an Iranian woman who fled her home country in pursuit of these very freedoms, I could not have been more grateful for how she chooses, again and again, to advocate for women around the world. Proud day at Archewell, and especially for me and Ashley Momtaheni."

About unrest in Iran

This month several people have been killed in Iran's crackdown on more than three weeks of nationwide protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, said Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights. he Iranian security forces also killed another 93 people during separate clashes in the city of Zahedan, in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, IHR said in a statement.

Protests erupted across Iran on September 16, when Amini died three days after falling into a coma following her arrest in Tehran by the country’s morality police for an alleged breach of Iran's strict dress code for women. The violence in Zahedan erupted on September 30 during protests that were triggered by anger over the reported rape of a teenage girl by a police commander in the region.

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