Subhead:Iranians have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Canadians in the freedom movement. Now, it's our turn to show them that Canadians stand with the protesters fighting for freedom against the Islamist regime in Tehran!# YouTube-embed:y9golimc1OI For 47 years, the people of Iran have lived under a brutal theocratic regime. Since the Islamic Republic seized power in 1979, Iranians have been systematically denied their most basic human rights. Political dissidents are imprisoned, tortured, and executed. The people are silenced. Internet access is routinely shut down during periods of unrest to prevent the outside world from seeing the truth. Women in Iran are treated as second-class citizens. They are banned from singing or dancing in public, barred from many professions, and subjected to strict morality laws. Women have been arrested, beaten, and killed for wearing their hijab incorrectly. Young girls can be detained for how they dress. Entire families are punished for speaking out. Meanwhile, Iranian tax dollars are siphoned off to fund terrorist groups and proxy wars across the Middle East, while ordinary Iranians often struggle to afford food, fuel, and basic necessities. Since December, Iran has been gripped by a nationwide uprising unlike anything we've seen in decades.