Iranian Activist Delivers Message of Solidarity at Holocaust Remembrance Concert

Last week, at the Enduring Music: Compositions From the Holocaust concert organized by the Counter Extremism Project and ARCHER at House 88, in conjunction with United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), Iranian human rights activist Mersedeh Shahinkar delivered a powerful message of solidarity with the Jewish people and support for Holocaust remembrance.

The concert highlighted music composed by prisoners in ghettos and concentration camps as acts of courage and defiance in the face of genocide—art created in resistance to dehumanization and annihilation.

Ms. Shahinkar, who was permanently blinded in one eye after being shot by Iranian security forces during the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests, honored the six million Jewish victims of the Shoah and warned of the continued global threat posed by antisemitism and extremist ideology.

In her remarks, she noted that for more than four decades the Iranian regime has systematically denied, distorted, and minimized the Holocaust, while promoting antisemitism and pursuing the eradication of Israel and the Jewish people through state policy and terror proxies.

Mersedeh Shahinkar, speaking at Enduring Music: Compositions From the Holocaust, said of the Iranian regime:
“For forty-six years, it has been the world’s leading state-sponsor of antisemitism. As I speak to you tonight, crimes against humanity continue in Iran… Thousands of unarmed civilians have been killed, tortured, imprisoned, or blinded simply for demanding dignity and freedom. I am only one of hundreds of thousands of victims of the same extremist regime that denies the Holocaust and openly calls for the destruction of the Jewish people.”

Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, Founder and CEO of United Against Nuclear Iran, said:
“UANI stands with Mersedeh Shahinkar and with the countless Iranians who have been killed, tortured, imprisoned, or blinded for demanding freedom and dignity. We also stand firmly with Jewish communities worldwide and with the people of Israel in the face of ongoing threats and violence. The same regime that brutalizes its own citizens denies history and incites hatred abroad.”

The Iranian regime is the world’s leading state-sponsor of antisemitism. Its stated objective remains the destruction of Israel and the eradication of the Jewish people. This extremist ideology—rooted in Holocaust denial, incitement, and state-sponsored terrorism—represents a threat not only to the region, but to global security. Mersedeh Shahinkar’s testimony serves as a powerful reminder that defending human rights, combating antisemitism, and confronting extremism are inseparable objectives.

Watch her speech here.