Iranians in Toronto protest after young woman dies in police custody in Iran

Members of the Iranian community in Toronto are taking a stand against what they say is the world's silence following the death of a 22-year-old woman in Iran after she was detained by the morality police.

Mahsa Amini was arrested in Iran on Sept. 13 after police reportedly took issue with her hijab, a headscarf that Iran's morality police requires all women, regardless of nationality or religious belief, to wear.

She died three days later.

Police say her death was due to a heart attack but many community members believe Amini was murdered while in custody.

Azam Jangravi is one of them. She was just one of a group of protesters who stood together Monday evening in downtown Toronto for a moment of silence to acknowledge a life cut short. 

"All of the world is silent," said Jangravi, who added she was also once arrested in Iran for removing her hijab.

"Iranian women don't have any rights in Iran. We can't just walk in the streets — it is a fight when we walk in the streets." 

Jangravi fled the country to protect herself and her daughter.

"I am here to be a voice [for] her," she said.

Amini's death comes as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is set to speak at the U.N. General Assembly in New York this week. It also comes as the United States and a number of European countries hope to negotiate a new agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, after Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the previous deal while he was president. 

Speaking before his trip to the U.S., Raisi called his appearance an opportunity to talk about the "malice" that he alleges unspecified nations and world powers have toward Iran. He did not elaborate. 

Western governments, including the U.S. and France, have demanded accountability for Amini's death. But for some Iranian Canadians, that doesn't go far enough.

"I would love to address the UN, Russia, United States, France and every single country sitting on the negotiation table of the nuclear deal with Iran and tell them any table that the government of Iran is present at, that table is based on the blood of human rights," said Nima Yajam, who identifies as a queer rights activist and a political refugee. 

Yajam notes Iran's human rights abuses affect the LGBT community too, saying two activists were sentenced to death there only two weeks ago.