Mark Edmundson

As I walked off the CBS set this morning, a young producer stopped me backstage. She was shy. She hesitated. Then she asked: "Did you say a woman were blinded… intentionally? What do you mean?" I showed her the picture of Kosar. I showed her the picture of Ali. I said: yes. This is not a stray bullet. The snipers of the Islamic Republic aim for the eyes. A pellet gun fired point blank at a face. They want the world to stop watching, so they take away the eyes of the ones who watched. Kosar was shot in the eye during the Woman Life Freedom uprising. Her friend Ali Zarei was blinded the same way. Now Ali sits on death row, waiting to be executed. Kosar asked me to tell CBS about him. So I did. More than 10,000 people have been blinded, intentionally, during the Woman Life Freedom and the recent uprisings. This is the real Handmaid's Tale. Yes, you’re fiction is our reality.💔 I carry this burden every time I walk into a studio or when I go on the stage, because some people in the West cannot believe this is happening In the 21st century. Believe it. And say their names. #StopExecutionsInIran

Iranians Across Multiple Cities Join Nationwide Protests Despite brutal repression and direct gunfire at civilians, the movement is growing stronger by the day. The message is clear: Iranians reject this terrorist, criminal regime. Marvdasht, Jan 1st, 2026 #Iran

We are wounded but unbowed to our oppressors. Yes one of the most beautiful moments at Berlin Freedom Week was when women of Iran and Afghanistan reached for each other’s hands and stood shoulder to shoulder. First we cried, listening to each other’s stories of loss and pain. Then we hugged. Then we laughed. Then we sang. And finally, we stood together and chanted against those who banned us from having a normal life. At @WLCongress we stood with these women from Iran and Afghanistan, women who literally lost their eyes for freedom, or lost their children to the Taliban and the Islamic Republic and have one demand: Time to end apartheid. Time to build a world where women are free by default. Let’s be clear: regimes that ban women from choosing their own sport, lifestyle, or dress aren’t “governments.” They are gender-apartheid systems. @UAGApartheid

Iranian taekwondo athlete Hanieh Shariati was arrested for posting videos training without hijab. Her Instagram shut down and no one knows where she’s being held. In the Islamic Republic, a woman’s hair and body are treated as threats to national security.

From President Trump to Zohran Mamdani, this show has hosted every kind of voice. Today, it was my turn to speak for those who live without a voice. I told America and the free world: Stop respecting Islamists and terrorist regimes in the name of tolerance, political correctness or diplomacy! And to you, @khamenei_ir : you messed with the wrong girl. Iranian women are tearing down your Berlin Wall. This week I’ll be in Berlin the City of Freedom as one of the co-founder of World Liberty Congress to have our General Assembly, in the city parliament where 180 dissidents from 60 authoritarian regimes will stand shoulder-to-shoulder to tear down the walls of dictatorship. Dictators are united. Now it’s time freedom fighters unite even stronger.

Thank you, @SenatorRisch, for standing by my side from the very first day, when I faced kidnapping and assassination plots on U.S. soil. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has always stood with the victims of transnational repression. We must stop the Islamic Republic’s hired killers and Russian mobsters, and all who dare to export terrorism to America. No assassin should ever walk freely in the streets of New York. Your strong voice reminds the world: the United States will never tolerate terror on its soil. @SenateForeign @Renew_Democracy