Yesterday we reported on a speech given by Reza Moridi, the Minister of Research, Innovation, and Science in Ontario, Canada.
A spokesperson for Minister Moridi’s office recently reached out to The Iranian to pursue clarity on some of these comments, which have been interpreted as considerably out-of-line for a parliamentary member by this outlet, as well as VICE News.
We at The Iranian would like to share this messaging with our readers, with the added reminder that Reza Moridi’s speech is available on Facebook, which was previously linked to in the original article as well. We urge you to please watch the speech for yourself when considering the following clarification provided by Lauren Souch, Senior Communications Advisor at Moridi’s office.
“Minister Moridi is the first Iranian-Canadian elected to a provincial legislature in Canada. He has long advocated for a peaceful transition to democracy for the people of Iran.
At the event on Sunday, January 7th, 2018 the Minister called on the Iranian regime to listen to the millions of Iranians who have taken to the streets to call for change, asking them to resign and pave the way for a peaceful transition to a new government.
These comments have been taken out of context to imply that Minister Moridi was not advocating for peace. Reporting otherwise would be factually incorrect.
Minister Moridi urges the Iranian government to refrain from any harsh actions against those citizens in numerous cities across Iran who have in the past few days been protesting peacefully against the violations of their basic human rights, as well as against corruption and the mismanagement of affairs of their country.”
