Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Iranians in Japan have been protesting in Tokyo against the crackdown in Iran and demanding greater freedom in their home country.

About 200 people from Iran gathered in front of the busy Shibuya Station in Tokyo and held a rally in support of the protest demonstrations against the authorities in Iran that have continued for about two months in various parts of their home country.

The unrest in Iran started with the sudden death of a 22-year-old woman detained by the Iranian moral police for improperly wearing a hijab. Protest demonstrations have been held all over the world, including Japan.

Iranian men and women living in Japan spoke through a microphone, saying such things as, “The Iranian government is shooting at protesters, detaining them and beating them. Women are also being killed” and

“Make Iran a country where everyone can live freely!”

Photographs of those who were said to have died during the repression were also displayed.

An Iranian woman commented: “The government is restricting people with religion and suppressing critics. I wanted to call on people from outside the country to change the situation.”

A man who has been living in Japan for 30 years said he wanted Japan to exert some influence over Iran.

Iranian authorities have reportedly killed more than 200 protesters, including 30 minors, since the protests broke out, according to human rights group Amnesty International.

There are believed to be around 4,000 Iranians living in Japan.