Actress Yara Shahidi elegantly explains how the protests in Iran are part of other protest movements across the globe on a Wednesday, Jan. 3, appearance on "The View."
The 17-year-old Grown-ish actress, who is of African American and Iranian descent, has family in the city of Mashhad where the Iran protests began on Dec. 28. Thousands of Iranians took to the streets of cities to protest the rising price of food, extremely high unemployment rate and economic sanctions that have isolated the nation from the rest of the world, according to The Huffington Post.
“These movements [are] really connected to our own movements in the past, whether it’s the Black Lives Matter rallies that have been happening or the [2017] Women’s March,” she said. “So I think for me, it’s about showing support for the protesters and making sure people are safe, and understanding that this is part of our larger global community.
“It’s so much more than the Iranian nuclear deal, it’s so much more than these Trump tweets in favor for or against the government,” Shahidi continued. “It’s really about the people that are being affected. They’re in a very similar situation [to us]. They were sold an economic plan that didn’t benefit them — similar to the [U.S.] tax plan that’s happening now. We have to look at that interconnectivity.”
President Donald Trump's administration has expressed full support for the protests on Twitter that has critics in America wondering where was this support for American protest movements.
Trump has called NFL players "sons of b*tches" for choosing to protest racism and police brutality in the nation during the national anthem. Many of his attacks on American protests were carried out on Twitter in addition to his speeches at political rallies. He was a vehement opponent against the women's march that occurred in the beginning of his first term as president and the Black Lives Matter movement as white nationalism and hate crimes rise in the country.
Iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration. The great Iranian people have been repressed for many years. They are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted. TIME FOR CHANGE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018
It is clear that Trump sees Iran as a major threat in the middle east and the country's leader supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei because of the nation's nuclear program. Watch Shahidi's full interview with the hosts of "The View" below: